Cute to Who?
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: Mariko wants to be Aoi's friend because she sees nothing wrong with liking cute things, but will he ever understand that she truly accepts him? Will he ever really accept that he likes being around her? AoixOC
1. Chapter 1

Ripped-up jeans. An old, baggy t-shirt and worn, dirty sneakers. I sighed as I tugged at my less than cared for hair. I hadn't bothered with it this morning since the bathroom had been continually occupied at home. I'd gone out to do some shopping as it was the weekend and I barely had homework. Not that middle school homework was extremely overbearing. I glanced at the people around me. Almost everyone was walking with someone else and they all had smiles on their faces. I saw a lot of little children walking with their parents. Their hands were all clasped tightly as they walked along the busy sidewalk. I smiled at the happy children as I continued my solitary walk. There were very unique shops on this street. I looked up at each sign as I passed until three boys in front of the café caught my attention. They appeared to be leaving, but they looked extremely happy.

"Ah! Aoi-chan was there again today!"

"She's so cute. What an amazing net idol!"

"Seeing her makes up for Misa-chan being off work today."

The three continued their conversation as they disappeared down the street. I stopped in front of the café. I stared at the sign feeling somewhat ill inside. The shop was called Maid Latte.

"A maid café? Why would Aoi-chan make an appearance _here_?" I asked myself.

I hesitated outside the door, wondering if I really wanted to see the moderately famous net idol. I reached a hand out to the handle before pulling back. Looking down at how I was dressed, I stepped away from the café and continued my walk, now feeling slightly depressed. I couldn't be seen like this. "You're not cute!" I cringed at the memory as I began running home. I reached it shortly afterward. Home was conveniently placed between two different towns. I pushed the gate open and read the sign. Middle Road Orphanage. It was pretty new, having been open for only three years. I was so happy when I got transferred here when it opened. As I closed the gate, I heard excited shouts from the three other children living in the orphanage.

"Mariko! Mariko!"

I smiled as they tackled me in a hug.

"What did you buy?" they asked in unison.

I kept walking into the building with them on my heels. I love the three of them desperately. They were like my little siblings since it was only the four of us with Ms. Chou. The eldest was me. Then there was Ichirou who was twelve, Koji who was seven, and Emiko who was five. Ichirou and Koji are biological brothers. I walked into the kitchen where Ms. Chou was making lunch.

"I bought cake!" I announced, placing the shopping back on the counter.

"YAY!"

Koji and Emiko climbed onto the counter to look at the cake while Ichirou looked at me sternly.

"I could have gone with you, you know," he pouted," A girl shouldn't go out by herself."

I smiled and ruffled his long black hair. He blushed slightly and pulled away.

"Don't worry. No one would bother with a girl like me. Not looking like this. I'm going to go change now, actually."

Emiko looked up at me.

"I wanna go with you!"

I smiled and plucked her off the counter.

"Fine, fine!"

Ms. Chou smiled at us. Her parents were rich and they owned the orphanage, but they didn't understand why a smart and talented twenty year old such as herself would want to run the orphanage. Ms. Chou had told me multiple times that all she wanted was to take care of sweet children like us. I'd met her when I was ten and I thought she was one of the greatest people in the world. She was like my big sister, only being six years older than me.

"Thanks for the cake, Mariko," she told me," But after lunch I want you to actually go out and spend time with some of your friends."

I hoisted Emiko higher so that her weight rested on my hip.

"But, most of them are busy today," I told her.

She gave me her scariest look, which wasn't very scary. I sighed at her.

"Okay! I'll go out."

Ichirou ran over and stood next to me.

"Me, too!"

Ms. Chou smirked at him and waggled her cooking spoon at him.

"Oh, no. The last time you went with her, I heard you scared off all her male friends."

Ichirou gaped at her as I giggled. We all knew that Ichirou had a crush on me, but he was like a little brother and I couldn't think of him as anything more. I took Emiko with me and she helped me pick out a decent outfit to wear out and I let her brush my brown hair till it was shiny.

"You're so pretty, Mariko!" she told me, awe written across her face.

I tickled her stomach and she giggled happily.

"Thank you, but you're so much cuter!"

It was true. I'd stuffed her into a soft pink, frilly dress with a bright pink ribbon around the waist. I'd even curled her naturally straight, black hair. Ms. Chou always scolded me for buying all the cute outfits for Emiko and never buying any for myself. I just figured it was too late for me to look cute. Taking her hand, we went down and had lunch. As I helped Ms. Chou clean up after having our cake, she looked over my outfit. She shook her head.

"I still don't see why he said that to you?"

"Huh?"

"That boy. I don't understand why he said you're not cute. There is nothing wrong with your outfit."

I looked down at my blue mini-skirt, light blue tank-top, and blue sandals. I shrugged.

"Just not his type, I guess."

Ms. Chou snorted.

"I bet he was lying. I don't see why you still seek his approval."

"He has no friends!"

"I can see why…"

I gave Ms. Chou a look and she smiled at me.

"You know there is such a thing as being _too_ kind. That boy needs to learn to watch his temper."

I put the dishes away and laughed.

"I don't blame him for his temper. People can be so judgmental about him that he has a right to be judgmental as well. By the way, is it okay if I take Emiko with me? I think Aoi-chan is at this café today and I think she'd love to go with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Alright then."

I smiled, hugged Ms. Chou, and then ran off to find Emiko.


	2. Chapter 2

"Maid…la..lat…latee," Emiko mumbled to herself as she stared at the sign outside the front of the café.

I squeezed her hand with a smile. I knelt down next to her.

"It's Latte."

Emiko pouted.

"Then it should be spelled "L-A-T-A-Y"."

I shook my head. Emiko was a smart five year old since both Ichirou and I were helping her with her schoolwork, but things usually had to be her way or she didn't like it. Then again, most five year olds wanted things their way. I stood up and opened the door, leading Emiko inside. The inside of the café was cute. It was set up to look like a house with an upstairs and a downstairs. It was like a giant dining room in a cutely decorated house. Emiko looked around in amazement.

"So pretty…"

A waitress in, of course, a maid outfit came over to his. She had a bright smile on her face. She had shoulder length dark hair.

"Welcome home, mistresses. Let me show you to your table."

Emiko tugged me along happily as we were led to our seats. I lifted her up onto her seat before settling down in mine. After ordering chocolate milk for Emiko and a cream soda for myself, I smiled as Emiko bounced in her seat. Even if she didn't get to see Aoi-chan, I had a feeling she'd be more than happy have visited a new place like this. I was just looking around the shop when Emiko squealed, along with more than half of the café. A girl with blonde hair and wearing a fluffy red and black dress came out of the kitchen looking rather unhappy.

"But I want to wear the outfit…" the net idol complained.

The maid waitress who was serving us shook her head as she brought our drinks.

"I've told you no enough times. Here are your drinks, mistresses."

Emiko jumped up and tackled Aoi-chan.

"Aoi-chan! Aoi-chan!"

The net idol looked down before her cheeks when bright red. She lifted Emiko up in her arms and squeezed her in a hug.

"You're so cute! You're mommy dresses you wonderfully. Who is your- MARIKO-CHAN?"

I waved before pointing to myself.

"I would be "mommy"…"

Aoi-chan looked between me and Emiko before putting the little girl back in her seat. The maid waitress looked somewhat confused.

"Classmate?"

The net idol nodded before grabbing my wrist and pulling me up from the table.

"Excuse us," she said, cutely to those in the area.

I began to get dragged toward the back of the café. I looked at Emiko.

"Stay right there!" I told her as I disappeared into the back hallway.

Aoi-chan dragged me into the break room and sat me down before glaring at me. Her voice dropped a few octaves.

"How can you dress her all cute and not yourself? What is wrong with you?"

I looked down at my outfit feeling a little bad now.

"I thought I looked okay today…"

Aoi-chan put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

"I mean on most days. Sure you're…" Aoi-chan's face went a little red," _cute_ today, but I saw you walk by here earlier and you looked…"

I looked up in horror.

"You saw me?"

"Sadly."

I pouted.

"I buy all the cute clothes for Emiko since she's cuter anyways! It's not like I have much money to spend in the first place."

"She's your little sister, right? Tell your parents you want cute clothes!"

I sighed.

"Yeah…sure…"

Aoi-chan sighed as the maid waitress came in. She was smiling happily.

"I didn't know you had a friend from school!"

Aoi-chan blushed and looked at the woman.

"She isn't my friend. Just a classmate."

"Well, you two apparently talk frequently since you call her Mariko-_chan_."

She giggled as Aoi-chan blushed and stuttered out protests. She looked down at me.

"I'm Satsuki, Aoi's aunt. I own Maid Latte."

"Oh…"

I looked between the pouty net-idol and the store owner, suddenly seeing the resemblance.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Mariko Sato."

"And is that your little sister out there?"

I leaped up and dashed out to the store. Emiko was happily drinking her chocolate milk as she waited for me. Satsuki and Aoi-chan followed me.

"That's Emiko…and she is…kinda my sibling."

"Kinda?" my classmate asked, looking at me suspiciously.

I moved back over to the table. I hadn't told anyone at school that I was an orphan. I didn't want people pitying me or anything. I was even afraid they might not want anything to do with me if I didn't have parents. The boys had gotten a lot of bad looks from people who had learned they had no parents. It was as if it was assumed that we had no manners or we just weren't brought up right since we didn't have parents. It was unfair, but I didn't want that kind of attention, so I didn't invite anyone over or tell them I lived with people who weren't my biological family. I'd never known my family anyway, so what I had now was important to me. Emiko liked that Aoi-chan came with me back to the table.

"Mariko! Can Aoi-chan go shopping with us?" she asked, eagerly.

I smiled at her.

"I think Aoi-chan brings too much attention to herself already."

"Oh," Emiko pouted.

I looked over at the net idol, who seemed to be contemplating something. I picked up my cream soda and drank some of it.

"Wow! This is really delicious!"

Satsuki looked very pleased at my reaction. Aoi-chan suddenly turned and walked into the back. We didn't pay too much attention until a boy with dark purple hair came out it black jeans and a white t-shirt with a sleeveless jacket on top, worn open. Satsuki attacked him in a huge hug.

"GET OFF!" he complained.

"You look so good, though!"

He blushed and walked over to the table Emiko and I were sitting at. We'd finished our drinks.

"Ao-"his hand slapped onto my mouth as he looked around the café.

"We're going shopping."

He grabbed my wrist again, dragging me up. Emiko jumped up as well, looking extremely confused. I pulled out my money to pay for the drinks, but the boy handed money to Satsuki before I could.

"You're welcome, now let's go."

Outside, my wrist was let go and Emiko grabbed my hand, suddenly shy.

"Is that a boy or a girl?" she asked, looking up at me.

"This is my classmate," I smiled at her," He's a boy."

"Another one? What's his name?"

"Uh…this is Aoi-kun."

Emiko blinked at me. Aoi looked back at the girl with a blank expression. She blushed.

"He's cute…"

I sighed. She couldn't tell. I didn't blame her. Aoi-chan had transformed into Aoi-kun. The whole school pretty much knew that Aoi was actually a boy. Most people found it weird that he like to crossdress and look cute most of the time, but I figured that everyone is different and what you like is what you like. And Aoi had practically ripped my head off the one time I'd asked him if he was gay. Aoi was not gay. I would never make that mistake again. I stared at the back of his head as we walked down the street. I didn't understand why he was dragging us to shopping places, but I had learned to be wary of him. He liked to yell at me. It was one of his favorite pastimes. Then again…it appeared that he yelled at everyone he talked to.

"Aoi-kun, where are we going?" I asked.

He glanced back at me with a mischievous smirk. A shiver ran down my spine.

"You're going to get some cute clothes."

"But I don't have money for it…"

He stopped and sighed. He seemed to size me up with his eyes.

"Then I'll make you clothes!"

"WHAT?"

He put a hand on his hip and frowned at me.

"I make all my outfits. You think my parents would buy me girl clothing? No way. Tell me where you live and I'll bring you some stuff tomorrow."

I shook my head.

"No, no. That's okay!"

Aoi narrowed his eyes at me. He then looked down at Emiko. He put on a charming smile. He knelt down to her level.

"Emiko, where do you live?"

I tried to put a hand on her mouth, but she'd been trained to answer on instinct in case she ever got lost.

"Middle Road Orphanage."

Aoi stared at the little girl before looking up at me. I laughed and picked Emiko up in my arms.

"My, my, look at the time. I have to go. Bye, Aoi-kun."

I took off running with Emiko in my arms. I was amazed at how fast I could run in sandals. Now I was slightly afraid. He might tell people that I had no parents. He might hate me even more than he already does. I almost cried at the thought of losing all my friends, but I sucked it up and kept running. I'd find out on Monday.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Sunday and I was cleaning my room. The soft blue color of the walls calmed me of my nervousness. My bed was made up in its corner and my dresser was covered with cute little dolls and figurines I'd collected over the years. All were moderately cheap as my large spending went into Emiko's wardrobe. It was late afternoon when I heard the doorbell ring. I took my time getting downstairs, so by the time I reached the front door, Ichirou had answered the door.

"Why would I lead you up to her room? Who do you think you are?"

"Do you own this place? I don't think so, so lead me to Mariko-chan."

"Like he-"

"Ichirou."

The two boys looked over at me as I stood staring at the two of them from the staircase. Aoi poked his head around Ichirou before shoving the younger boy out of the way and going over to me. I was stunned as he was weighed down by at least a dozen outfits. I blinked at him as he huffed over to me.

"Brought them. Shall we go up to your room where we can be…" he turned and smirked at Ichirou slyly," _alone_?"

The twelve year old went bright red in the face as I turned and led Aoi up the stairs. I heard Ichirou's footsteps quickly following us up to my room.

"This is it," I said, glad I cleaned.

Aoi nodded before turning and slamming the door in Ichirou's face and locking it. I sighed as Ichirou banged on the door and shouted.

"You can't stay in there! If you're making her change you can't look! Get out!"

Aoi snickered before dropping the clothes on my bed. He picked up a pretty pink and black outfit and shoved it at me with the happiest face I'd ever seen.

"Put it on!" he practically sang.

I stared at him in surprise. He shook the dress back and forth in front of me.

"Aoi-kun…why…?"

"I told you I'd make you some outfits. Ta-da!"

"But…"

I was kind of at a loss for words. Aoi sighed and tossed the dress back on my bed. He crossed his arms and gave me his natural "I hate you because you're stupid" expression.

"Did you seriously think I cared that you're an orphan? It suddenly made sense as to why you weren't wearing cute clothes. Now put the dress on!"

He shoved the dress at me and turned around to sort out the dresses. I looked at the dress and back at him.

"You're not going to peek are you?"

"Why would I want to? Just because that little boy out there would."

"Don't talk about him like that."

I started to change as fast as I could. It was a little embarrassing to have a boy in the room, but he wasn't looking at least. I heard Aoi laugh.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, of course not. He's like a little brother."

"All the more fun…" he muttered to himself.

I glanced back at him to see him still sorting through the clothes.

"Aoi-kun?"

"What?"

"Can you help me with this?"

As Aoi turned around, I turned my back to him and pointed to the buttons running up the back. I saw his cheeks tint pink as he walked over and started buttoning. I looked down at the floor and played with my hands as I felt his hands moving up with each button.

"Aoi-kun…could you not tell our classmates that I'm an orphan?"

"I wasn't planning on it, but why? It's not like it's a big deal or anything."

"I'm just not ready for people to know…"

I heard him sigh as he reached the last button and surprised me by taking out my hair tie and began doing my hair another way. He was easily a head taller than me so he had no trouble fixing my hair as we stood there.

"Whatever. Not like it's my secret to tell."

I felt my eyes tear up a bit. Aoi was a nice boy, even if he spoke harshly and seemed to hate almost everyone. As he finished with my hair, I turned and hugged him. He froze, his hands up by his head.

"Get OFF!" he said, trying to move backwards.

"Thank you!"

His hands went down on my shoulders and he pushed me away from him. He glared at me.

"Stop being creepy. Now, let me look at you."

He examined me as I stood straight. He shook his head, making me frown.

"What?"

"You don't look cute in this dress. You're too developed…and since the skirt is short…well…"

I looked down at the dress and then back up at Aoi.

"But I'm proud of my-"

"Okay! Next dress!"

"MARIKO! I heard Aoi-kun is here!"

Emiko's voice had come from outside the door. Aoi ran to the door and opened it. His face got extremely happy as he saw Emiko in a fluffy pastel green dress. He picked her up and squeezed her in a hug, making her giggle. She'd admitted to me that she had a small crush on him since he was so good looking.

"You're always so cute! Mariko, you have good taste in children's clothes."

Koji, who appeared to be walking by, peeked into the room. After examining Aoi and Emiko, he turned to me.

"Is he what they'd call a pedophile?"

My jaw dropped.

"Where'd you learn such a word?"

"Ichirou."

"Don't say rude things. No, he isn't, now shoo."

Koji shrugged and walked away as Aoi placed Emiko back on the ground. The little girl noticed my outfit suddenly.

"Mariko! You're sexy!"

And my jaw dropped once again. My hand clenched in a fist as Aoi laughed hysterically at a sentence like that coming from a five year old.

"I'm going to kill Ichirou!"

Aoi took Emiko's hand and brought her into the room.

"Want to watch Mariko-chan play dress-up?"

"YES!"

We spent another hour putting dresses on me. Aoi took pictures of all the cute outfits, which were ten out of the twelve. It was actually pretty fun. After changing out of the last dress, Aoi was escorted out by Emiko and myself.

"Are you gonna come play dress up another day?" Emiko asked, excitedly.

He grinned at the little girl.

"Maaaybe."

With a wave he marched away. Emiko looked up at me.

"Can I marry him?"

I laughed and picked her up.

"Ask him the next time you see him."

"Okay!"

I felt so much better knowing that Aoi would keep my secret, but I suddenly felt like I owed him a lot. And I did not like the feeling of owing someone. I figured I'd have to find some way to repay him, but how?


	4. Chapter 4

He easily came up with a way for me to repay him that afternoon after we'd left school. He'd brought me to Maid Latte and we sat in the staff room. Satsuki had been so excited to see me with Aoi again that she had hugged me. After introducing me to all the girls who worked there, I was able to sit down once again and Aoi handed me a bag.

"I decided that Aoi-chan needs something a little different to keep her fans interested."

I frowned.

"And that is…?"

Aoi pulled a strawberry blonde wig out of the bag.

"A best friend!"

I gaped at him in confusion.

"But you hate me. It would be a lie!"

"Yeah, but I'm already lying to them. I'm a boy, remember?"

"But you said I'm not cute!"

"Not unless I dress you."

I clutched at my shirt.

"You don't mean…physically, right?"

Aoi rolled his eyes and pulled out a pretty dark blue and white dress from the bag. It was strapless with a lot of ruffles. It had a nice crisscrossed ribbon pattern on the front. I stroked the dress.

"I don't know if I can do this…"

"Just try. We're going to bring you out into the store with me as Aoi-chan before we take pictures and put them online. I'll get so many more hits with another cu-girl…in the photos."

I blinked at him before he pushed me to the changing area. After I'd changed into the dress, I came out and Aoi looked happy with how I looked. He then put my hair up in the wig. I had to admit that I looked cute, but nothing like myself. It took Aoi five minutes to become a girl before he dragged me around the store and had us go in the front. He had a satisfactory smile on his face as the guys in the café had a strong reaction to seeing Aoi-chan with another girl. I felt nervous as I sat across from Aoi. I fidgeted in my seat, gaining me a severe look from Aoi-chan, who flipped her hair over her shoulder before she smiled at those watching her. Misaki, who I'd met earlier, came over and looked between Aoi and me.

"What did you let him do to you?" she whispered to me.

"I don't know yet what I've done…"

Aoi seemed happy with the amount of chatter we caused in the café that day. I sat there for hours feeling like a doll on display. When Aoi said we could leave, I had dashed out of the café extremely fast, but as I dashed out to the alley, I was stopped. I backed away and looked up at the face of a guy with a creepy smile on his face. He had such a generic nerd face, but I could do nothing but scream as he grabbed my arm.

"You're Aoi-chan's friend, aren't you? You're really cute…"

Tears streamed from my eyes at the pain as he grabbed my wrist tighter.

"Want to see my collection of Aoi-chan photos? I'm making a huge collection."

"Let me go! No!"

He was suddenly pulled away from me and dumped on the ground. A tall boy with blonde hair stood in front of me. The look on his face must have been pretty intense because the creepy guy squeaked and scooted away.

"Don't touch any of the girls who go into this café. It's safer if you don't."

The guy nodded like a maniac and dashed away. I looked up at the boy as he turned to me. I was blown away by how handsome he was. He had such bright green eyes. I blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Thank you…" I told him quietly.

"Don't worry about it," he said, heading into the café's back door.

I followed him inside and heard a loud exclamation from the girls inside. I spotted Aoi sitting on the couch in his boy uniform. He'd had looked bored as we walked in, but when he spotted me he jumped up and grabbed my wrist. I screamed in alarm and yanked it back. Looking at it, I could see a horrible bruise had been created. Aoi looked between the bruise and my face.

"What happened? I thought you'd gone home without changing or something."

I shook my head and sat on the couch. Satsuki saw my shoulders begin to shake as I sobbed and she pulled me into a hug.

"There, there," she comforted me.

She looked up at the older boy.

"Usui-san, what happened?"

He shrugged and went over to Misaki, who had just dressed out of her maid outfit and come around the corner.

"Some guy tried to take her with him to see his Aoi-chan photo collection."

"Awww!"

Most of the maids came over and surrounded me in a hug as my tears slowed. Aoi sighed.

"You can't handle _one_ crazy fan? Seriously."

I glared at him which apparently surprised him as his eyes widened. I ripped off my wig and threw it at him.

"I can't do this. I'm sorry, but I'm done. I don't even want to wear cute clothes. If looking cute is going to get me kidnapped, I don't want to."

I got up and stomped to the back. Throwing off the dress and slipping into my school uniform, I went back out, dropped the dress on the couch, and moved to the door. I was about to leave when a hand landed on my shoulder and turned me around. I came face to face with Aoi.

"Will you relax and listen for a minute? Look. I'm sorry that happened on the first day, but I won't let you out of my sight again, okay? I'm a little used to beating down people so it'll be okay."

I shook my head.

"I don't want to feel scared. And look at my wrist. People are going to think I get abused."

"Or that you hit something really hard. Mariko-chan, please do this? I…."

He turned and glared at the wall.

"I kind of…like…hanging out…with you."

I gaped at him as he clenched his fists and turned.

"Forget it. You don't have to do it. I look better on my own."

I couldn't help but laugh at him. He turned and frowned at me.

"What are you laughing at?" he demanded.

I extended my hands out and took his right hand in both of mine before looking up and smiling at him.

"I'll do it still…if you walk me home every night."

Aoi's cheeks went pink as he stared down the hall, but he eventually began walking toward the exit, letting me still hold on to his hand.

"Fine."

His hand was limp in mine the whole walk back, but it meant something to me that he didn't try to pull away until I had reached home.

Author's Note: I'm posting the links to her dresses on my profile. Hope you like them


	5. Chapter 5

"They turned out great!" Aoi exclaimed happily.

I'd been having my lunch outside under a tree and I practically dropped my sandwich as he appeared out of nowhere. I didn't usually have lunch with my friends since they were too picky about eating outside. They said the bugs were too much. Lately, Aoi had been my lunch buddy. It had started soon after "Mari-chan" had become Aoi-chan's best friend and the ratings to Aoi's site went up a decent amount. Aoi threw himself down beside me and waved the most recent photos in front of me.

"They're more than perfect!" he sighed, happily.

He took out his lunch and began eating. I glanced over at his homemade lunchbox compared to my sandwich and apple. I'd never really had anyone make me a lunchbox even though I made one for the kids every morning. Ms. Chou said she'd make me one, but I had insisted that making lunch for school was something I would do to help her out. Aoi caught me looking at his lunch and held a rice ball out to me.

"Want some?" he asked, surprising me with a friendly gesture.

I just blushed and shook my head.

"No, I'm okay."

He watched me take a bite of my sandwich before going back to his lunch. We ate in silence for a few minutes before Aoi leaned back against the tree.

"I need another favor."

I blinked at him, slightly nervous about what he was going to say. From the look on his face, he was none too happy about it.

"See, my dad threw out all my clothes again because he says I'm not manly enough. Just because I exploit how cute I am dressed as a girl doesn't mean I'm not manly, right?"

Aoi narrowed his eyes at me. And I nodded.

"You're manly…in ways…though calling a fourteen year old manly is kind of strange…"

He didn't seem to believe me, but he moved on with the conversation.

"The point is…I told him I have a girlfriend."

I choked on the last bite of my sandwich. I hit my chest a couple times before I swallowed appropriately.

"Please tell me this isn't going where I think it's going…"

"It is."

I stared at him and he just gave me his best poker face.

"What? You just have to meet them once. Pretend to like me and it's no big deal."

"I can't lie to your parents! Are you kidding me? Lying to fans on the internet is one thing, but lying to _your parents_? I can't do it."

"That's too bad because I already told them your name."

My jaw dropped and I grabbed the front of his uniform jacket and shook him.

"ARE YOU _NUTS_?"

I stopped shaking him as I heard laughter from really close by. Looking over, I spotted some boys from our year watching us amused. I let go of Aoi's jacket and sat down again. One of the boys came up to me. I recognized him as a boy I'd turned down a few weeks ago. I wasn't interested in guys I didn't know confessing to me. Why date someone you don't know anything about?

"Sato-san, I didn't know you were interested in _girls_."

I frowned in confusion until I noticed that they were looking at Aoi. I looked over and saw that he was glaring away from them.

"Are you to best friends or girlfriends?"

I stood up and glared at him.

"Stop being a jerk. Aoi-kun is a boy, not a girl. So what if he likes dressing up as a girl?"

The guys all laughed.

"Sato-san, seriously. Stop hanging out with him. We'll show you how real guys are better."

I cringed as he reached out and grabbed my bad wrist.

"Let go of me. I don't even know you!"

His grip tightened and I let out a painful whimper. I was surprised as his wrist was yanked away from me and I was pulled back into Aoi. I looked up and saw his blue eyes staring daggers into to guy.

"Weren't you ever told how to treat a lady?" he snarled.

The guys glared at him.

"What did you say, sissy boy?"

Aoi stepped up to them.

"You heard me. You boys are gross and don't know how to treat women. You guys are just big ugly brutes!"

I grabbed the back of Aoi's jacket and tugged him away from them.

"Aoi-kun, don't start a fight."

"They started it!" he protested.

The leader was raising his fist when the bell rang. The boys looked back at the school before turning back to us.

"Watch yourself, _princess_!" he said, pushing Aoi to the ground and stomping off with his friends in tow.

After they'd gone a few yards, I helped Aoi up and grabbed our stuff.

"Are you okay?" I asked, dusting him off.

He pushed me away and glared after them.

"I hate stupid people like them. They just don't get it. They laugh at things that are different. There isn't anything wrong with liking beautiful and cute things, is there?"

Aoi looked at me and I shook my head.

"They're just jealous. I turned him down this year, that's why he was getting upset."

The purple haired boy growled and grabbed his stuff out of my hands as we went into the building.

"Stupid jerks. Mariko-chan, about meeting my parents…"

I sighed and looked down at my bag.

"I'll think about it, okay? That's all I'll say."

Aoi sighed in frustration, but didn't argue.


	6. Chapter 6

"OW! Stop, it hurts!"

"Just bear with it a little longer."

"But it's so tight…"

"It'll feel better when I'm done."

"I seriously doubt it!"

Ichirou's voice came through my locked door. He was evidently angry.

"What are you doing to her in there? No means no! Open the door!"

His fists slammed on the door, but Aoi just snickered. He pulled at the laces on the corset he was trying to squeeze me into. Even without Ichirou's misinterpretations, the situation _was_ rather awkward. I had my hands pressed against the wall as Aoi tried to make the corset fit from behind me. I had argued with him for an hour about it because I didn't want him to see me without a top on, but he said there was nothing attractive about my back as long as I kept the corset covering my front. Even my front, he'd said, wasn't that impressive. This came from the guy who told me I was "too developed" for one of his dresses. This guy was doing wonders for my self-esteem.

"That kid has a dirty mind," Aoi commented, giving up on the corset," Fine, you win. No corset outfits for you. You're skinny enough as it is. Do you even eat?"

I dived under the blanket on my bed so I could take off the corset and get back into the top I had on before.

"Your teasing him doesn't help! Of course I eat! You've seen me eat."

"True…"

As I finished changing, Ichirou was still shouting from outside the door. When I came out from under the blankets, Aoi laughed at me.

"You should see your hair! HA!"

I was about to start fixing it when Aoi came over and grabbed my hands. I mischievous smirk was on his face and he had a naughty twinkle in his eye. I frowned at him.

"No, we're not going to tease him on purpose…"

"Yes, we are."

Aoi pulled the blankets off of me before running to my door, unlocking it, and then ran back to my bed and jumped on top of me. I yelped in surprise as Aoi pinned my arms down, his legs on either side of me, making it impossible for me to wriggle free. The door burst open just as Aoi bent his head close to my ear. I shivered as his breath tickled my ear.

"GET OFF OF HER!" Ichirou shouted.

I looked over to see the younger boy's face was a bright cherry red from anger. Aoi began laughing, almost evilly. Ichirou kept looking between me and Aoi, unsure what to do. I sat up, despite Aoi's grip on my elbows and the fact that he was practically sitting on me.

"It's okay, Ichirou."

Aoi stopped laughing and gave Ichirou a mean look.

"See? It's consensual."

The boy looked horror stricken before running out of the room and slamming the door. Aoi's laughter resumed. I sighed and began patting my hair down.

"That isn't funny…he's going to be upset now."

"Oh, c'mon. If you don't like him, he might as well get the hint with a little fun added to it for _my_ amusement."

"You have no sensitivity in you, do you?"

"Not much…"

I fell back on the bed, forgetting Aoi was practically attached to me. This resulted in him crashing down on me, our faces only centimeters apart. I blushed and looked away.

"Sorry…"

"Did you ever decide whether you would pretend to be my girlfriend?"

He hadn't moved an inch. He just watched and waited for me to respond. I bit my lip.

"A little. I guess…that if you gave them my name…"

Aoi grinned, content with my decision before he suddenly sat up. I sat up as well, sliding out from under him.

"I just came up with a great new idea for Aoi-chan and Mari-chan!"

I groaned. His ideas always made me feel weird and dress weird and do weird things. This time couldn't be any different. Especially not with the sly look on his face. He jumped up and rummaged through the normal pile of clothes he would bring over for me to try on. He pulled out a dress with the shortest skirt of them all. The dress itself was white with black lace. The front of the skirt was the shortest part with the sides and back only a little bit longer. I hated bows, and Aoi knew this by now, but there was a bow right on the front and two on the skirt.

"I'll wear this one and you can wear…"

I sighed with relief that he was wearing that dress. I waited as he flipped through dresses until pulling one out with a satisfied smile. He turned and was surprised to see the look on my face. He had pulled out a pink halter dress with a heart shaped neckline that I absolutely loved. There was a huge bow on the back and a lilac trim on the edge of the skirt, but I didn't care. Aoi's look of shock didn't fade as I ran over and admired it.

"I can wear this?" I asked him.

His mouth was slightly open, but he nodded to me. I had never shown this much interest in any of the dresses he had me wear. I smiled and took it from him before running to my normal changing spot. He slowly turned away and when he wasn't looking I changed into the dress. When I was done, I ran to the mirror and admired it. It didn't look too bad on me, so I thought. I then froze. If I liked it…Aoi might think I looked ugly. I turned to see him watching me, his mouth no longer open. I blushed, feeling embarrassed about my earlier excitement.

"I-It's pretty. You…you did a good job on it…"

I fell silent as Aoi came over and fixed the bow on the back for me. He then moved up to my neck and retied the bow so it looked less floppy. When he was done, his eyes caught mine in the mirror.

"You can keep it if you want," he said, quietly," If you like it that much, I mean."

"Really?" I asked, stunned.

I turned to face him as his face went crimson. He glared at my bedroom wall off to the left.

"You don't look terrible in it so you might as well keep it."

I smiled slightly, clasping my hands in front of me and giving him the cutest look I could.

"Are you saying it looks good on me, Aoi-kun?"

His eyes glanced over at me before his face went red even more than before. He suddenly stomped over to my bed and sat on it, crossing his legs and arms.

"Not at all. You're so plain the dress only does a _little bit_ to help you."

I looked back in the mirror feeling hurt. I sniffled as I tugged at the top, letting the strings fall. I didn't care if Aoi was looking. Apparently, I would never look good in anything anyway. Aoi leaped up as I began to shimmy out of the dress.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, grabbing the strings and pulling them up again.

"I don't want it," I said, my voice wavering slightly," Not if I don't look good in it."

Aoi growled. He fixed the dress and retied the top, almost choking me.

"You're too sensitive!"

I turned and glared at him.

"And you're not sensitive enough!"

"Why would I want to be sensitive? I'd be crying over everything like you do!"

"Aoi-kun, you're so mean! You don't care about anyone's feelings do you?"

"If I cared about other's feelings, I'd have no time to worry about myself. Then I'd be a crybaby like you, always seeking other people's approval!"

On a sudden impulse, I slapped him. Tears fell from my eyes as I glared at him, my wrist stinging since I had hit him with my injured side.

"I hate you! All you ever do is put me down! Everyone was right. I shouldn't have bothered with you. I only wanted to be your friend. I wanted you to know that there were people who liked you for who you are, but I give up."

Aoi didn't even put a hand to his bright red cheek which had to have been hurting him. Instead he reached out and took my arm.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, letting my wrist just sit on his palm.

I nodded as I wiped away some of my tears. Aoi led me over to my bed and we sat down. He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked over at me.

"That's the first time I've ever seen you get really mad. Do you really hate me?"

I shook my head. He grinned.

"I didn't think so. Look, Mariko-chan, you shouldn't take what I say at face value all the time. As my mother would say, I like pushing people's buttons. You're just so easy to upset. But…honestly…that dress…you…I mean…"

I looked over at him. His face was red again and he was covering his mouth with a hand. He made me jump as he suddenly shouted.

"Don't make me say it! Seriously?"

He was getting upset again. For some reason, it made me laugh. He looked over at me in surprise before he gave a small smile.

"Ugh, fine. You…look…_cute_. There."

He looked so embarrassed. I smiled and poked his cheek. He flinched, but didn't move.

"Did I hurt you?"

"Nah, it just stings. Misaki has hit me harder than that before."

"Really? When?"

A dark look came onto his face, so I instantly knew he wasn't going to tell me anything about what had happened. He looked almost sick and a shudder ran through him. It was silent for a few moments before I remembered something.

"Aoi-kun, you said that you thought of something new for Aoi-chan and Mari-chan?"

Aoi looked at me with a blank expression for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Oh, yeah! Heh."

I blinked at him. I wished I hadn't brought it up. The look on his face made me worry again. He got up and paced beside the bed.

"So, Mari-chan is a bit too…shy to initiate anything, but I'm thinking…Aoi-chan will be the aggressive one. We will take pictures every now and then that make it hard for the fans to tell whether the two are "really, really close" or just friends. If you know what I mean."

My jaw hung loose as I stared at him.

"Yuri?"

"NO! Well…no. No. Just…teasers, you know…Most of these guys have no life so they'd be into that sort of thing."

"I don't know."

"All you'd have to do is look shy and unsure and embarrassed and I have to look like I'm about to jump you."

"What?"

Aoi climbed onto the bed again.

"Here, I'll show you."

"Wait!"

I tried to get off the bed, but he had grabbed me around my waist and kept me on the bed. My hands went to his chest to try and push him away, but my injured wrist caved. I whimpered from the pain, but Aoi just took it gently and raised it above my head, but completely pinned me down with his own hand. His other arm trapped me from moving off to the side as he hovered over me. My face was getting really hot. I turned away as Aoi's face came close to me, my eyes squeezed shut. My eyes opened as I felt Aoi laugh lightly. I turned back to his face to see him grinning at me.

"That was perfect. Just like that. Not so bad, right?"

"I-I guess…"

"Or we could do better than that…"

"Why don't we not…?"

Aoi didn't listen to me as he blew air out from my shoulder up my neck to my ear. I squirmed from the ticklish sensation.

"Aoi-kun-"

"Or maybe…"

I felt the tie at the back of my neck slide out. Looking over, I saw Aoi smirking with the string between his teeth. It was at that moment that the door opened. We both looked over instantly and saw Emiko standing there in utter shock.

"Emi-"I started.

The little girl began to sniffle.

"I thought I was going to get to marry Aoi-kun," she pouted.

Aoi got up to go over to Emiko, but the little girl's face suddenly changed. She stood up straighter.

"If…if Mariko is the girl Aoi-kun likes…then…then its okay."

Aoi's eye twitched at the idea of him liking me, but I jumped up and went over to Emiko. I smiled at her.

"Thank you, Emiko. That was a _very_ big girl decision of you."

She beamed.

"Really?

"Mmhm…"

She jumped into my arms and hugged me. I picked her up and moved back over to my bed. I sat down with her on my lap. She looked up at Aoi.

"Then you're my Onii-chan, now?"

Aoi's face broke into a huge smile and he attacked Emiko in a hug.

"YOU CAN CALL ME ONII-CHAN ANYTIME YOU WANT!"

"YAY!"

She wiggled out of my grasp and back onto the floor.

"I'll leave you two alone to make babies now!"

The two of us gaped at her as she marched out of the room, head held high, and completely proud of herself. I couldn't help but start laughing once she had shut the door.

"You can call me Onii-chan anytime you want!" I teased.

Aoi narrowed his eyes at me.

"Do I need to come up with more awkward picture ideas?"

"No!"

"That's what I thought."


	7. Chapter 7

"Mariko-chan, will you stop lagging behind?"

"Sorry."

I jogged to catch up with Aoi. He was moving rather fast as we headed toward his home. Today, I would be meeting his parents as his girlfriend. I figured that was why he was so preoccupied mentally. He had to be worried about pulling it off. Honestly, I wasn't too sure myself. I had done my best to look decent, wearing a loose purple skirt that went down to my knees with a form fitting purple top where the sleeves went to my elbows. I had even tried to do my hair in a high ponytail that must have worked because Aoi hadn't complained. Breathing heavily, I grabbed the back of Aoi's shirt. He was wearing another stylish outfit. I didn't understand how he made every outfit he wore look perfect for him. He even wore a different uniform from everyone at school, but it worked. He glanced back at me with a blank expression. I pulled my hand away.

"Aoi-kun…I'm kind of nervous. I don't like lying…"

"Yet you pretend you have parents."

I felt a stab through my gut, mostly from the reality of his statement.

"That's…different."

"Look, just say as little as possible. Speak only when spoken to. Follow those two rules and you should be fine. Leave everything to me."

My eye twitched. That made me feel worse. I was still trying to get over the photos we wound up taking for Aoi's site. The memory made a cold shiver run through me. Once again, his sites ratings had skyrocketed and Aoi was pressing for us to take more pictures like that. I had refused adamantly.

"Can you tell me about your parents?" I asked, playing with the edge of my shirt.

He was silent for a moment. His pace slowed and I was able to walk next to him.

"Well…my father is Satsuki's older brother. You know, the lady who owns Maid Latte. They have a younger sister as well. My father hates that I am a net idol and frequently throws out my clothes. I usually go to my aunt for more and resize them. Also, he kicked me out of the house at one point for it. That was around the time I stopped going to school for awhile. You probably don't remember that…"

I looked up at him.

"Of course I do."

I caught his eye for a moment before he looked away.

"Anyway, my mother isn't happy with the way I dress, either, but she doesn't get mad. She always wanted a son so she is quite disappointed with how I turned out."

I couldn't help feeling bad for him. It was weird. Despite my envy for everyone with parents, I felt lucky to have had Ms. Chou and the kids. They loved me unconditionally. At least Aoi's parents always brought him back into the house when he went home. With a shrug, I slipped my hand into Aoi's. He tried to pull away, but I held on tight.

"You want them to think we're a couple, right? Then you might as well hold my hand. If I had a boyfriend, he'd have to hold my hand _a lot_."

Aoi snorted, but stopped fighting me off. We walked quietly for a little bit before I heard Aoi chuckle.

"What else would your boyfriend have to do? Might as well know what I might be able to use, right?"

I thought for a moment, thinking of all the times I had seen couples around or watched a romantic movie, or read a romance book. I glanced around looking for couples, but didn't see any.

"Well…he would have to be okay with dancing with me. Annnd he would have to get along with the kids at the orphanage pretty well. I think it would be cute if he is shy. He would have to be funny, smart, talented, intelligent-"

Aoi interrupted me with a laugh.

"How about non-personality related things? I can't use any of that."

I pouted but changed direction for him.

"Okay. Let me see…he would have to be a hugger. Not in public and not all mushy and stuff. Just…randomly. So that it's special. And he'd have to put his arm over my shoulder when we're just sitting together as a way to pull me closer to him. I can't really think of much else, but if he was going to kiss me it would have to be special and meaningful. Especially, the first kiss."

Aoi seemed to absorb the information, but he didn't comment on any of it as he stopped us in front of a normal looking home. I mean, as normal as any other home would be. Not like the orphanage. The nerves were back suddenly as Aoi led me through the gate and up to the front door. He was about to open it when I stopped his hand.

"I don't think I can do this. I think I'm about to be sick…"

Aoi gave me an irritated look.

"You're already on my front doorstep. Suck it up and let's go."

With that, he opened the door and pulled me inside. After taking off our shoes we moved forward toward the kitchen. We could hear someone cooking in there. As we stepped inside, a pretty woman turned and smiled at us. She looked very excited.

"Oh my gosh! She's adorable, Aoi! I was afraid he would never find a girlfriend, not with…well, oh my gosh. Aoi's brought home his first girlfriend."

I was a bit surprised. I was expecting Aoi to look more like his mother because of how feminine he looked as Aoi-chan. In reality, he barely looked like her at all. At most, he had her nose and mouth. I was shocked as his father walked in from behind us. He was an older Aoi. Aoi had his father's hair, face, and eyes. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but Aoi squeezed my hand. He was more worried about this than I was. I had to keep that in mind. I smiled at them.

"Hi. I'm Mariko Sato. It's very nice to meet both of you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, dear," his mother responded before going back to the cooking," Dinner will be ready soon."

Aoi turned me to look at his father. The man's eyebrows were raised, but he smiled.

"I was almost sure that Aoi had made up a girl."

I looked over at Aoi who looked insulted.

"Why would I ever make up a girl? That would be silly."

His father laughed.

"True."

Aoi tugged me back out to the hall.

"I'm going to show her my room."

"Alright, dear," his mother responded with a wave.

Aoi quickly led me up the stairs and into the second room on the left. After pushing me inside, he followed and shut the door. I looked around the room in surprise. It was actually much less girly than I thought it would be. The walls were a dark shade of blue, but not a blue that could only be considered for boys. The room was neat with a bed with white bed sheets in a corner by a window and next to his closet. At the foot of his bed, but a few yards away from the bed was a desk. There were a few drawings of dresses and other clothes on it along with homework and other books. On the right side of his room was a glass sliding door leading to a small balcony. There was a table in the middle of the room with a few more drawings on them. There were also a few posters of Aoi-chan hidden under the pile. I went over to his desk and leaned in close to the back. Pinned to the desk was a recent picture of Aoi-chan and Mari-chan. My face burned red as it was the picture that had been everyone's favorite on the site since Aoi had last updated. The picture was of Aoi-chan hugging Mari-chan, who was extremely embarrassed while Aoi-chan was smiling as always. I was yanked away before I could see the other pictures pinned near it. Aoi's face was pink as he sat me down on the floor by the table.

"You don't move unless I tell you to," he demanded, pointing at me.

I nodded and just stared at him until he sighed at me and sat down at the other side of the table. His head collapsed onto the table.

"I can't believe he thought I'd lie."

"You are, though."

"Shut up! I meant lie without back-up!"

I giggled, making Aoi look up. I stopped as he stared at me. The look on his face made me feel self-conscious.

"Wh-what is it?" I stuttered.

He sat up and shrugged.

"I've never had a girl in my room."

I looked back at him and found him completely serious.

"Really?"

He nodded and got up again. My eyes followed him as he went to his closet. I wondered what he was doing until he suddenly pulled out a bunch of dresses. His face had lit up with happiness.

"Let's play dress-up!"

"No."

"Just a little."

"Aoi-kun!"

He sighed and put the dresses back. I noticed that he pushed them to the very back to try and hide them. I suddenly thought of something.

"You know…if you don't want your dad to get rid of the dresses…you can leave them in my room."

I was stunned by the response I got. Aoi ran over to me and stared into my face. He was beaming. I backed away instinctually. It was slightly frightening how happy he was.

"I can? You mean it?"

I nodded, trying to smile.

"S-sure. I mean, it has to be better than bringing the dresses to my house every time and then sneaking them back into your room…"

Aoi floated off into his own thoughts as I got comfortable on the floor again. It was around then that his mom called up to us that it was dinner time. Suddenly back in reality, Aoi waved me over to him before moving me out his door and down the stairs to the dinner table. Throughout most of the dinner I was mute from nervousness. I did as Aoi had instructed and only spoke when asked a question. His mom asked a lot of questions. Even after dinner had been put away, we were sitting at the table and being interrogated.

"So you two met in school, right? Aoi, when did you first start liking Mariko-chan?"

I glanced over at Aoi, whose face was the color of bubblegum. He stumbled for an answer, trying to think.

"Well…it was when…I…she…"

"U-uhm, I actually told him I liked him first."

Three pairs of eyes shot in my direction. My hands shook under the table, so I grabbed my knees and dug my nails into them.

"I-I thought Aoi-kun was cute so I tried to become friends with him. A-at first he…he didn't like me, but uhm…he eventually lightened up about it. A-And then one day he asked me out…"

"Awww," his mother cooed and looked over at Aoi," Really?"

"Eh, yeah. All the guys in our class like her, so…I figured since she only really talked to me that I should ask her out since I stood the best chance. She-she's really shy if you haven't noticed."

His mother continued cooing while his father looked over at me.

"And what do you think about his silly website?"

The air instantly felt a little colder. Aoi glared at his dad and I just looked between the two of them.

"Actually, I thought it looked really fun so I joined him. I-I really think that Aoi has a gift for design. The fact that he can come up with clothing ideas and even _make _them is…really impressive. I wish…I wish that I had a talent like he does."

The table was silent and I refused to look over at Aoi, for fear of the expression on his face. I had spoken honestly that time. The silence was broken by his mom.

"Now, Mariko-chan, I'm sure you have a talent of your own. Have you ever taken lessons for anything? I'm sure your parents must have put you into something for after school."

I stared down at the table and swallowed hard.

"Oh, no, I really haven't taken lessons for anything. I haven't really gotten into anything at school. I mostly take care of my siblings."

"Siblings? How many?"

"I-I'm the eldest of five children."

"My! Five children. That is something! But surely your parents can find time for you to do something after school."

I didn't understand why she was pushing that I had an activity. I couldn't help not having a talent. I got good grades, if that counted. I had promised to help Ms. Chou with the kids as much as I could because it was only her taking care of us.

"Maybe I could call them and we could all have dinner sometime."

I looked up at her in alarm, but it ended quickly as Aoi spoke up.

"She's an orphan."

I turned and looked at him. He wasn't looking at me at all, but only at his parents. I tried to shake my head at him, but he was ignoring me.

"She helps take care of the younger kids. And it isn't like she has nothing she is good at. She is smart and she helps everyone. She also makes their lunches and helps them with homework. She cleans their home as well. And she…she's really good at modeling."

I gaped at him. Apparently Ms. Chou had been talking to him without my knowledge about what I do around the orphanage, but…he'd said I was good at modeling? I couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"She could me a model someday if she wanted to. Don't you think? She's _cute_, isn't she?"

My face was bright red as I stared down at my lap. I wanted to evaporate into thin air. First, Aoi told them that I was an orphan. Second, he complimented me. I didn't know whether to be distressed or feel happy. After all, he could be just saying that. I looked up quickly as his father spoke.

"You sound very responsible, Mariko-chan. That's good."

Aoi's mom smiled at me.

"And you really _are_ adorable."

"Th-Thank you…very much."

I couldn't really speak for the rest of dinner. Time flew by and before I knew it, I was back home. I sat down on the porch swing we had outside, Aoi next to me. We swung quietly for a few minutes before I found my voice again.

"You told them I was an orphan."

I looked over to see Aoi hang his head.

"I'm sorry. They were pestering you…it angered me. They do that to me all the time."

I thought for a moment.

"About what you said…about the modeling?"

"I meant it," Aoi responded easily," You don't know how good you are. I mean, you're not as good as _me_ or anything…"

I caught a grin on his face and laughed. I leaned back on the swing and looked up at the sky.

"Thank you," he continued," for pretending for me. And…since you did this for me I'll…admit that you _are _cute. Even when you're not trying to be, you're cute. Okay?"

I smiled and moved my eyes back down to Earth.

"Okay."

Aoi got up and began heading for the stairs. I slowly followed and stayed by the door as he descended onto the rock path leading to the gate.

"Aoi-kun?"

He turned back to look at me.

"What?"

I smiled. He was back to his normal self. His statement had that tone of "I can barely stand you" in it once again.

"As far as helping you out…that's what friends do. If you need my help again…just ask."

Aoi smirked and climbed the stairs again. I blushed as he came close to my face.

"Are you hinting to me that you want to go on "pretend" date with me?"

I gaped at him, which seemed to encourage him as he moved closer. I suddenly set my face and pouted at him.

"Of course not! I'm just saying-"

"GET OFF OUR PORCH!"

The two of us turned to see Ichirou seething from the doorway. Aoi snorted in amusement and stood straight again.

"Oh, dear, I forgot about your bodyguard. This is why I liked having you in my room. We could do _anything_ we wanted to without being _disturbed_."

Ichirou squawked angrily, making Aoi have to turn away to release a laugh. I just shook my head at the two of them. I wasn't paying attention so I was shocked when Aoi suddenly swooped in and kissed me. It wasn't on the lips. He had kissed me on the cheek, but close enough to the lips that from what Ichirou saw, he seemed to have actually kissed me. I almost fainted in surprise.

"Goodnight, _Mariko_."

My face lit up like a firework from him calling me by my name like that. That set Ichirou off on a rant as Aoi walked away.

"DON'T YOU CALL HER THAT! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! IT'S MARIKO-_CHAN! _CHAN, YOU HEAR ME! _ARE YOU LISTENING, JERK_?"

I pushed Ichirou inside before he began drawing attention to himself. Once the door was shut, Ichirou looked at me with concern.

"Were you really in his room?"

"Well…yeah, but-"

"WHAT?"

The poor boy stormed off before I was able to explain anymore. I just giggled before heading up to my room. On the way, I passed Ms. Chou. She smiled at me and patted my hair.

"How was your "date"?"

"It was good."

I smiled. I had told her what was going on with me and Aoi. She seemed to like him a lot better after talking to him. I wondered what the two possibly could have been talking about without me knowing, but I wasn't worried about it. I suddenly hugged Ms. Chou.

"I love you. You're the best mom we could ever have."

I could feel her arms hold me tighter than she ever had as we hugged. When we parted, I caught tears in her eyes. She smiled and gave me a gentle nudge toward my room.

"Off to bed now, you sweet child. Go."

I went off to my room, feeling surprisingly good after being nervous for most of the day.


	8. Chapter 8

It was two days till summer break and I had just arrived at my seat in the classroom when my eyes zoomed in on the photo sitting on my desk. Hanging my bag on the hook at the side of the desk, I picked up the picture and gasped. It was a picture of me, dressed up as Mari-chan, hiding behind a tree as Aoi-chan came around the other side. Looking up, I noticed everyone in the class was whispering to one another. My face grew hot as some of them began moving my way. I tried to stuff the picture in my desk but my elbow was caught by someone's grip. My stomach flipped as I looked up into the face of the jerk that had bothered Aoi and me at lunch not too long ago.

"So you play dress-up, too, huh?"

I pulled out of his grip.

"You don't belong in this class," I barely squeaked out.

He snorted and waved my comment off. As he moved a few steps closer, I was easily pressed against the wall in my attempt to get away from him. A boy in the class cleared his throat.

"Kato-san, the teacher will be here soon."

He ignored my classmate and turned to the entire class after snatching the picture from my hand.

"Do you all know that she turned _me_ down for a date to hang out with Hyoudou? It's sick. Look at the things she is doing. Playing dress-up and running around with a _girl_. I'm starting to think that Mariko-chan is into girls. Don't you think?"

My mouth fell open in protest, but no words came out. Kato-san smirked meanly at me.

"I bet you two play some freaking dress-up games when alone. I know that you'd have free time since I looked up your address in the school records. Says that you're-"

"Back off. And I'm a _boy_ by the way."

The picture was snatched from Kato-san's hand and torn to pieces. An angry Aoi stood glaring at the other boy. Snickering, he turned to face Aoi.

"You can't talk. You had to drag someone else into your creepy hobby. Smudging Mariko-chan's good name and making her some sick weirdo like you."

"Don't talk about her like that! She is only doing it as a favor."

The class erupted into murmurs. Aoi flinched at what he had said. Kato-san looked amused as a smirk crept to his face.

"I see. You dress up as a girl so she can all hot and bothered while you have her dress-up to raise site ratings."

Aoi growled and went up to the other boy, grabbing his collar.

"It's not like that. You don't know anything about us. There is nothing wrong with liking cute things. So what if we have that in common? And I know just as much as you do that Mariko-chan doesn't have a thing for girls."

Kato-san seemed to be waiting for an opportunity for Aoi to grab him first, because he took his chance and threw Aoi to the ground. The boy hissed in pain. I ran over to Aoi, who was holding his side.

"Are you okay?" I asked, but Aoi just pushed me away.

He got up again and moved to hit Kato-san, but I held him back. The other boy was laughing at how upset he had made Aoi. He was about to take his chance at hitting Aoi defenselessly when I stepped in front of Aoi and got a fist to the stomach. Pain engulfed me and I fell against a desk. The class began talking all at once. A teacher had apparently arrived around then as Kato-san was being dragged out. But he made sure he had the last word.

"What do I care? She's just a damn orphan."

Aoi pulled me to lean on him instead of the desk. I felt like throwing up, but I kept myself from looking more pathetic than I obviously did. Glancing around, I noticed everyone looked away from my gaze. Tears welled up in my eyes. I heard Aoi shouting at them about how sickening they were to ditch helping me just because I liked cute things and didn't have parents. I let myself fall to the floor. It hurt unbelievably to cry with the pain in my stomach. I could barely breathe, but I knew when Aoi picked me up off the floor and into his arms and carried me to the nurse's office. I was laid down on a bed and the nurse checked me over for any broken ribs or internal damages. I came off with just a severe bruise.

"I'll stay with her," Aoi told the nurse as she went to call Ms. Chou.

The nurse nodded and pulled the screen, cutting me off from the rest of the office. I lay on my side crying, with the blankets covering my face so Aoi couldn't see me. He didn't say anything for a long time. When my crying began to slow, I heard him slide the chair he was sitting in closer to me.

"This is my fault," he said, quietly," If I hadn't have brought you into my business then that idiot would have left you alone and never bothered to find out more about you. I should have kept away from you. I'm better off on my own, without friends. This was so dumb."

I peeked out from the covers to see him getting up.

"I'll leave you alone now. Maybe our classmates will forget about it and be your friends again. Forget that you ever had anything to do with me."

He was about to walk away, but I grabbed at the back of his jacket desperately. It hurt to sit up, but I did it anyway.

"No! Aoi, please don't."

He pulled away from me and shouted at me.

"Don't stretch the jacket! What is wrong with you? And don't call me by my name only! Sheesh!"

I looked up to see he was blushing while he yelled. He made to move around the bed, but I tried getting up.

"Aoi-kun, please-"

I almost fell over, but I was caught. My hands landed on Aoi's chest and his hands had grabbed my shoulders. He tried to push me back to the bed, but I shook my head. He wouldn't push hard as he was afraid of causing me pain.

"I don't want to be friends with people who would just abandon me. And…it is the end of the year, so maybe better people will be at the high school I go to. But, you…you may say you hate me and yell at me a lot but we both know we're friends. And it didn't matter to you that I am an orphan and you put up with me for who I am anyway, so…please don't leave me now."

Aoi was silent as he forced me back onto the bed to sit. He couldn't get me to lie down again. With a sigh, he lifted my shirt up to check the bruise. It wasn't large, but it was a nasty looking purple.

"You're so stupid," I heard him whisper; "You're practically asking to be an outsider."

I gave him a small smile, enjoying the familiar frown on his face.

"Like you, I would rather show people that liking what you like and being who you are is more important than being like everyone else. Besides, I want to be able to wear all the cute outfits you make."

Aoi scoffed and looked away from me.

"Who said I would continue to let you wear things I make anyway?"

"Please, you're way too confident in your clothes making to _not _want someone to wear them."

I laughed, making him look back at me. I was surprised to see him smile. He reached up and touched some loose strands of my hair that were lying on my shoulder.

"You-"

"MARIKO-CHAN!"

Aoi was practically tossed across the room as Ichirou came in and jumped on me in a hug. I screamed in protest as he irritated my bruise. I was stunned as Ichirou was yanked off me instantly.

"Are you an idiot? She's injured, you moron!" Aoi yelled," Get the hell out!"

Ichirou was about to yell back when Ms. Chou walked in. She smiled as the two boys went silent, fuming to themselves. Walking over to me she put her hand on my head.

"I would ask how you're feeling, but I can see you're being entertained."

The two of us laughed at the boys. They both began to leave the room, but I got up and stopped Aoi, much to Ichirou's irritation.

"You're not leaving for good, right?" I asked, looking up at him.

He smiled and put a weightless hand against my side-injury.

"Not just yet…"

I smiled with relief as he left, a strange warm sensation flowing through my chest as I watched him go. I turned to Ms. Chou to see her grinning at me.

"What? Are we going now?"

"Yes, of course, but are you sure you don't want Aoi to come with us? That look of longing was just…so…touching."

My face lit on fire and I shook my head at her.

"It's not like that! Really!"

"Uh-huh…"

Ms. Chou began moving out of the room with me in tow.

"I'm serious!"

"Just tell that to the blush on your face."

"Oh my- Ms. Chou!"


	9. Chapter 9

A few days into summer vacation, Ms. Chou rounded all of us up and had us stand up in the kitchen for an announcement. None of us knew for what reason we were standing there for, but it was a bit exciting. Ms. Chou had a huge smile on her face and her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She stood before us with her hands behind her back and leaned forward..

"Who here…would like to go to the beach?"

Three hands shot into the air, while I raised my hand slowly. I wasn't too keen on sand, among other reasons. Ms. Chou nodded in agreement.

"I thought so. Well! A friend of mine, who is a few years older than me, has invited us to stay with her at her beachside hotel. Does that sound like a plan? We'll leave tomorrow!"

"YAY!" the younger kids shouted before running off to pack their bags.

I was about to leave the room as well, but Ms. Chou stoppedme. She pushed a decent amount of yen into my hand.

"Here."

I gaped at her before shaking my head and pushing the money back at Ms. Chou. I couldn't possibly take money from her. She stopped me and closed my hand around the money. She grinned at me.

"This is for your birthday, Mariko. You're such a good girl. I want you to have fun on this trip since we'll be there for your birthday. Now, I want you to go out and buy yourself a bathing suit that is your age. No more of your school bathing suit. You're too old for that now."

I blushed at the thought of wearing a two piece bathing suit. I shook my head.

"I can't possibly-"

"Yes, you can. If it makes you feel better, you should go ask Aoi to go with you. I'm sure he would help you."

A shiver ran up my spine at the idea. I would be eternally embarrassed, but I hadn't seen him in a few days. I kind of wanted to see him again.

"Ms. Chou, I don't-"

I was turned around and pushed out of the kitchen.

"Shoo."

There was not much more I could say to that, so I grabbed my shoes and went out into the warm sunshine. I had finally pulled out my summer clothes, so I was wearing one of the few cute outfits I owned. It was a pink sleeveless dress that fit me perfectly. It had white lacing and tied in the back. I had even dug out a pair of matching pink wedge heels to go with it. The outfit made me feel somewhat grown up. I still wasn't one hundred percent sure if I wanted to get Aoi, but I sucked it up and made my way toward his house. Halfway there, I stopped by a park after seeing a long haired blonde playing with a camera. I grinned, recognizing the blonde and went over. She was scowling while two older boys, maybe first or second years in high school, tried to follow instructions that were being yelled at them. I stopped next to the camera and waited for the yelling to end.

"Can't you just stand there and not move? How hard is that?"

"Uhhhn…sorry."

The boy who spoke had dark green hair and a slightly high pitched voice. He looked unbelievably feminine as well. The boy next to him kept quiet and was decently taller than his friend. I couldn't really see what he looked like since he had glasses on and a hood over his head. Looking at him with a hoodie on in this heat made me feel really hot. Aoi-chan huffed and turned around only to spot me standing by the camera. I wound up laughing at the extremely surprised look he gave me. He came over at once.

"Mariko-chan, are you okay to be out of the house?" he asked.

His concern was somewhat touching. Feeling slightly embarrassed by it, I looked down at the ground.

"I'm fine and the bruise is going away. I was actually on my way to your house when I noticed you here."

"Oh…"

Aoi turned and looked back at the two boys. Clearing his throat, he motioned to the boys.

"This is Mari-chan," he told them in his girl voice," She dyed her hair recently, but she'll be changing it back. Mari-chan, this is…uhh…"

The green haired boy raised his hand.

"Shouichirou Yukimura. It's nice to meet you. This here is my friend Soutarou Kanou. We'll be second years in high school after the break."

I giggled and waved at them. I found Yukimura's name amusing as it was very long for such a small male. I moved over and shook his hand. When I turned to Kanou, I was surprised to find him blushing and recoiling from me slightly. I peered up at his face and my heart skipped a beat. He was really cute. I blushed as well and retracted my hand, feeling a little put out.

"I'm sorry…"

I turned to move away from him, but I heard him make a strange noise in his throat. Looking back, I saw him put out a shaky hand to me.

"No, I…I feel a bit uncomfortable around girls. I'm sorry."

I took his hand and shook it carefully. I smiled at him. His eyes met mine, but I was suddenly yanked back. Looking up to my side, I saw Aoi with a stormy expression on his face.

"Yes, well, that's enough videoing for today. I'm going to head home. Mari-chan, let's go play at my house, shall we? Bye, boys!"

I only had enough time to spout out a quick farewell to the boys before I was pulled out of the park. We cleared the distance between the park and Aoi's house with exceptional speed. I was pushed through his front door, given only a second to greet his mother who was home, before being dragged up to his room. As soon as the door was shut, Aoi yanked off his wig. He didn't speak a word as he began pulling off his Aoi-chan dress, which was his favorite black and red outfit. I only had enough time to turn away before he'd completely stripped.

"A-Aoi-kun, why would you-"

"Relax, there is nothing embarrassing about seeing a man in boxers. You've probably seen Ichirou and that…other one, whatever his name is, with boxers on before."

"Koji. And that isn't the point…"

"Whatever. Did you come to see me just so you could show off a cute outfit to an older boy? I can't believe you're into older guys…how gross."

I blushed and turned around to luckily find him in one of his fashionable boy outfits. He was glaring openly at me.

"So what if I thought he was cute? It wasn't like he would go out with a younger girl like me! It's none of your business anyway. I'm allowed to flirt if I want to!"

Aoi laughed, meanly.

"Yeah, you flirt. You don't understand how easy men are. You just dress up cute, act sweet and innocent, and they fall all over you. No flirting necessary. And that is exactly what you were doing!"

I pouted. Why was I being attacked for just blushing because I saw a cute boy? Especially one that is about a year older than me. I put my hands on my hips.

"If that was true, you might have fallen for me when I started dressing cuter."

Aoi rolled his eyes and went over to comb his wig so it looked less messy.

"Please, you're not cute enough for me to ever want to date."

"Then why would you tell your parents you're dating me?"

"I have higher standards than they know."

"So an orphan isn't realistically good enough for you, right?"

Aoi sighed and looked over at me with a bored expression.

"Why were you coming to my house, Mariko-chan?"

"You're avoiding the question."

"No, I just want to know why you're here."

"Answer the question."

The two of us locked eyes and neither of us moved for a good minute. Aoi eventually got up and leaned against his dresser.

"Look, Mariko-chan, I'm not going to lie to you and say an orphan is the first choice for a girl to date for anyone, but-"

I looked away from him and began to turn to leave the room. My shoulder was grabbed, holding me back from leaving.

"Will you listen for a second? I don't know…why I got so upset, okay? I have no problem with you because you don't have parents. I've told you that tons of times, so stop pushing that insecurity at me like I'm going to run away if you present me with it enough times. My standards aren't really that high anyway. To tell you the truth, I used to have a crush on Misaki, so you have every right to find that guy attractive."

The dark-haired maid came into mind and I couldn't help but grin slightly. I then started to giggle. Aoi moved in front of me, leaning against his bedroom door with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, yeah, it's hilarious. Now, since I assume you aren't going to storm out on me now that I've divulged that little secret to you, why did you come to visit?"

I rubbed my arm, remembering why I came in the first place. My face heated up and I looked away from Aoi as I spoke.

"Uhm…well…Ms. Chou is taking all of us to the beach to visit an older school friend of hers and…she told me to go buy myself a bathing suit. It's…part of my birthday present since it's in three days. I don't know what kind I should get, but she said it should be my age and…so I thought…"

I glanced over at Aoi and was alarmed by the smile on his face. I was in trouble.

"Of course I can tell you what to buy!"

I squeaked as I was yanked out of his room with very little grace and rushed down the stairs. Once again, I was only given a moment to wish his mother good-bye before we were walking down the street. Aoi was going at a fast pace, which I couldn't do anymore with the shoes I was wearing.

"A-Aoi-kun, please stop."

He looked back and noticed how much I was struggling. He stopped and let me relax for a moment. When I felt like my ankles were finally in place again, I nodded to him. I was taken aback as his hand slid into mine, our fingers interlacing. With a swift jerk, I was pulled up against him, my free hand gripping his upper arm. My face was glowing crimson, so I hid it behind his arm slightly.

"Why are you…?

"My dad works near where we're going. We have to look like a couple. And it's easier for you to walk in heels like this. I would know."

Butterflies in my stomach were making my skin tingle. I was fully aware of the feeling of his hand holding mine and of the slim but surprisingly manly arm beneath my palm. As we walked, I noticed a few older people smiling at his and pointing us out to people they were talking to. The attention freaked me out, but it was also nice in a way. From the smug look on Aoi's face, he was enjoying it.

"Too bad you aren't wearing one of my dresses," he noted as we walked," But it's nice to know that even without me you have some nice clothes in your closet."

We stopped not too long after in front of a department store. I was lead to the summer section where there were bathing suits everywhere. I was pulled over to a rack as Aoi began scanning threw the bathing suits. He was so fast, he was like a machine.

"Not your color. Not your size. Too ugly. Nasty pattern. Nice, but not cute enough."

I looked through the ones he was tossing aside and found some of them to be acceptable. When I pointed this out to him, he growled at me.

"Mariko-chan…how do I explain? Hmm…you're going to be fifteen. You're already ahead of the girls in the development department, so a one piece that isn't perfect won't do you justice. Ruffles are for girls who are flat, so you don't need those either."

I glanced around to make sure that no one else was in the area to hear anything that he was saying to me. I would have died if anyone heard him call me developed. He suddenly grabbed different bathing suits and handed them to me.

"It is going to be one of those five. Go try them on. I want to see how each of them looks on you."

I could have sworn I was red from head to toe.

"I'm not going to show you each of them!" I hissed.

I was stunned as Aoi suddenly moved up close against me. His breaths brushed against my ear as he spoke.

"Then maybe I'll just have to go in and put them on for you."

I yelped, pushed him away, and dashed into the dressing rooms right nearby. I heard him laugh from outside.

"No wonder Usui says things like that…"

I didn't understand what he meant, but the idea that Usui-san said things like that to Misaki made me feel a wave of pity for the older girl. I tried on each of the bathing suits Aoi chose and, after showing him how I looked in each of them to my extreme discomfort, we picked one that I liked a lot. It was pink and had bows, not always my favorite things, but I liked it. The heart pattern it had was cute and it clipped in the back along with being a halter top. It came with a skirt which made me feel better as well. After buying it, we went to Maid Latte. Satsuki, Aoi's aunt, was so excited to see him dressed like a boy and spending time with a girl. After escaping after a snack and a dessert, Aoi insisted on walking me back to the orphanage even though it was farther than his house was from the store. Back home, he stopped at the gate and let me close it without stepping inside. I smiled at him.

"Thanks for helping me."

He shrugged.

"Yes, well, I am a great authority and you _should_ appreciate it."

When he looked at me, I noticed his eyes slip past me. Turning, I spotted Ichirou watching from the doorway, his foot tapping impatiently. I shook my head and looked back at Aoi, expecting him to do something to irritate the boy, but he didn't move. Aoi just transferred his eyes back to me.

"Mariko-chan, if you like that guy…I mean, hopefully you'll get to know him better before this, you should really go after him. Since he's bothered by girls, you might be one of the few he could get close to. Him and the girly one usually end up helping me frequently, so I can just call when they're with me, you know?"

I smiled. He'd turned away to look down the street halfway through his talking. Leaning forward on the gate, I gave Aoi a peck on the cheek. His cheeks went pink as he reeled away from me, a little too late for it to have the disgusted Aoi effect. He was acting at that point.

"I'm not really into shy guys."

"Uh…huh…Uhm, by the way, I'm going to be gone for awhile myself. Visiting my aunt."

I nodded, understanding that we probably wouldn't see each other for awhile. It made me kind of sad. I was about to speak when I heard Ms. Chou call out from the doorway. Turning, we noticed her coming down the stairs. She stopped beside me at the gate.

"Aoi-kun, I have a question for you."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her and let her talk.

"Do you happen to know a Nagisa Hyoudou?"

"Yeah, she is actually the aunt I'll be visiting. I'm heading there tomorrow."

"I _knew_ you two were related! I was just talking to Nagisa and she mentioned that she'd have her nephew over. She then began gushing about how he had even found a girlfriend finally, which apparently surprised her."

A sense of dread crept into my stomach. I knew where this was going as Ms. Chou wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Why didn't you tell me you two were officially dating? That's so mean, Mariko-chan."

The look on both me and Aoi's faces were unreadable as she giggled.

"She saw the pictures the two of you take together and sent me the link. It's adorable! I never would have known the two of you would bond over a hobby like that! But you both look great. You're both so talented and cute! Well, anyway, I'll let you lovebirds say good-bye properly. We'll have to have you over for dinner more when we get back, won't we, Aoi-kun? You two are so cute. Bye-bye for now! Mariko-chan, dinner will be ready in five minutes."

She dashed back into the house, still twittering. I was sure that Ichirou, Koji, and Emiko were being fully informed that the two of us were dating. I eventually looked back at Aoi and I could have sworn his soul had left his body. I put a hand to my face.

"See…this is what happens when you lie, Aoi-kun. It gets bigger…and bigger."

Aoi looked at me, his face frozen as if made of stone.

"We can't be friends anymore. I fake break-up with you. We shall never speak ever again."

"Hey!"

I opened the gate as he started walking down the street. I grabbed his arm and made him turn back to look at me.

"That's not fair, Aoi-kun!"

"What else can I do? We can't just start dating for real! The feelings aren't there. If we keep pretending, you're right, it is just going to get harder and harder to lie."

It was silent between us. I didn't know what to do, so I couldn't say anything. He was right. The best way to fix everything would be to just cut off the friendship. But now…if that happened…I would have no one at all. I would still have the kids and Ms. Chou, but I needed a friend my age. And the idea of just killing the friendship that I had worked so hard to get with Aoi hurt painfully. But…

"Okay."

Aoi looked at me with his bright blue eyes. I did my best not to let my voice waver.

"If it is for the best, then I'll do what you want. We won't be friends anymore."

I was about to walk away, tears beginning to fall down my cheeks, when I was pushed gently against the stone wall surrounding the orphanage. We were now completely out of sight from eyes watching from the house. Aoi's head hung limp in front of my eyes, his forearms leanings against the stones on each side of my head.

"Don't…do that…Don't cry and be cute and make it hard."

I wiped the tears away, sniffling.

"I'm sorry."

Aoi sighed and looked up at me. A slight smile played on his lips.

"You do what I say too easily. I guess we'll just figure this out as we go. I don't feel like losing ratings by breaking up the Aoi-chan and Mari-chan section of the site."

He brushed away a few remaining traces of wetness from my face and pushed himself away from the wall. Lifting up my chin, he shrugged and assumed his normal expression. Haughty.

"Well, I'll see you at the beach tomorrow as it can't be avoided. See you."

With a last wave, he walked away. I couldn't help but laugh quietly to myself. Aoi was strange and confusing, but I wouldn't want him to be any different. With that thought, I wondered if I was some kind of masochist to want to spend time with him, but I decided to let that thought go as I went inside to deal with Ms. Chou's excitement at my finally finding a "boyfriend".


	10. Chapter 10

The beach was full of people when we arrived. People were running around and enjoying the sunshine. We followed Ms. Chou single file along the beach to the last building lining the coast. The beachside hotel was made from logs and looked well taken care of. It wasn't super busy, but the place wasn't lacking for customers. Ms. Chou led us inside. Cool air conditioning made me sigh with relief. The sun was too much for me sometimes.

"Nagisa-senpai?" Ms. Chou called," We're here."

A surprisingly tanned woman appeared from the upstairs. When she turned, I knew she was Aoi's aunt, just from the dark purple hair and the blue eyes.

"Asuka-san!"

The two hugged before Ms. Chou pointed to those of us standing around.

"These are the children. This is Emiko, Koji, Ichirou, and Mariko."

I flinched as Nagisa's eyes brightened when she looked at me. I began to feel rather awkward.

"It's nice to meet you all. You can find your rooms upstairs. The boys are staying in the first room down the hall, the girls in the second room."

The younger kids took off to see the rooms while I took my time heading for the stairs.

"Mariko-chan, Aoi is just cleaning outside. You should go see him after you put your things down."

The two older women giggled as I sighed and trudged up the stairs. I found Emiko had been put in the correct room by Koji and Ichirou. After putting my stuff down, I found a discontented Ichirou standing outside in the hall. He gave a dissatisfied huff.

"Hyoudou's sharing our room. I saw his stuff in the corner."

I grinned.

"You two will have time to bond."

Ichirou muttered "Doubt it" and went back into the room. I moved downstairs, leaving the distraught younger boy to his own thoughts. He could deal with his hatred alone; I had problems of my own to act through. I went out to the side of the hotel where one would apparently wash the sand off their body after being on the beach. I found Aoi scrubbing the showers with a mop. He was sweating profusely, obviously having been out there for awhile. I smiled, seeing him with a bandana around his head like a housemaid. He was also wearing blue swim trunks and a blue tank top. I stepped onto the edge of the showers.

"Aren't you going to tan if you keep this up?"

"Tell that to Nagisa-san. She's a slave driver."

Aoi turned and I was taken aback by how boyish he looked at that moment. He looked...handsome. I saw his face go red, which cued me in that he had guessed what I was thinking.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Sorry!"

He pulled his bandana off and sighed. He scrutinized my outfit, a light blue t-shirt and a baby blue skirt with flip-flops. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Not going to go down to the beach?"

I shrugged, still trying to bury my embarrassment.

"I'm not the biggest fan of sand."

"So you bought a bathing suit for no reason? Typical. You of all people _would_ let a cute outfit go to waste."

I ignored his comment and grabbed his mop.

"Need some help?"

He snatched it back. I had a feeling I had injured his pride.

"No."

"Aoi, you're so rude."

We both turned to see Nagisa watching us with a smile on her lips.

"That is no way to treat your girlfriend."

Aoi's shoulders tensed and his face turned bright red. He couldn't look at either of us. Nagisa went over and took the mop away from him, smacking him gentle on the butt with it.

"Why don't you take Mariko-chan down to the beach to have fun?"

"Fine!"

Aoi moved around Nagisa, grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside. I protested as he practically dragged me up the stairs and pushed me into the room. Emiko had to be with Ms. Chou as she wasn't in the room as Aoi snapped the door closed. He let out a heavy sigh before pulling his tank top off and collapsing onto the floor. His eyes closed as his body soaked in the cool air.

"Get into your bathing suit, idiot."

I frowned at him. I was beginning to wonder whether he enjoyed being in the room when I changed. He requested it much too freely and frequently. The boy spluttered as I dropped a blanket over his face.

"No peeking."

"Do we have to go through how much I _don't_ want to watch you change?'

Since he couldn't see, I took that moment to stick my tongue out at him. I felt somewhat rebellious, but decided against doing anything else like kicking him or sitting on him. Instead I dug in my bag for my bathing suit. Instead of changing in the open, I slipped into the closet. Aoi audibly snorted at the sound of the closet door sliding open and then closed. I could have sworn I heard him mutter something about "self-conscious". After changing, I stepped back into the room to find Aoi sitting up with the blanket in his lap, his back facing me. He turned as I threw the clothes I had been wearing into my bag. Catching a glimpse of his face, I couldn't help but laugh. He was cringing slightly and his right eye was twitching. I looked down and smoothed out the gigantic worn-down grey t-shirt I was wearing over my bathing suit.

"What? I figured you wouldn't want any guys staring at me on the beach, _boyfriend_!"

I began laughing as Aoi ran at me. I dodged his attack. The two of us spent about two minutes running around until he grabbed me and forced me to the floor.

"Take it off," he growled, trying to pull the shirt up as I wiggled from between his legs.

"But it is comfy!"

"Never say that about anything _grey_!"

The door slid open as Aoi yanked the shirt up to my neck. We froze and stared at the door. Ichirou stood with a murderous glare on his face. Aoi's face was a blank slate as he looked up at the younger boy.

"Could you leave? We're not interested in having a third party join us..."

I did my best to keep from laughing out loud as Ichirou's hands curled into fists. The boy looked ready to explode. Before he could do anything harmful to himself or Aoi, I cleared my throat.

"Aoi-kun was just trying to convince me to go on the beach in my bathing suit without the t-shirt. Do you agree with him?"

Ichirou's eyes bounced between Aoi and me, before he nodded slowly. I smiled at him and sat up a big from under Aoi.

"Okay, two out of three means I'm overruled. Ichirou, while we're at the beach will you look out for Koji and make sure he actually does something fun while he is here instead of reading the stack of books he brought?"

The boy hesitated before murmuring his consent and moving back into the other room. He had backed off slightly since Aoi and I were "dating", but he still was openly hostile toward the other male. Aoi and I looked at each other before turning away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. At least, I assumed that much for him, but I definitely was. I slid out from under him and pulled the shirt off before tossing it over by my things.

"We can go now..." I said slowly.

Aoi didn't say anything, but he got up and moved toward the door. I followed quietly. When we got out to the beach, I was led over to an empty stretch of area that was just off to the side of where we were staying. I put my foot into the water to find it somewhat warm. I moved in a little farther, a smile on my face. Looking over at Aoi, I caught him staring out at the ocean, his eyes vacant. Moving over to him, I tilted my head to the right to peer into his face. He didn't move.

"Aoi?"

His reaction was comedic. A pinkish blush ran up from his neck to his face and he glared down at me. He backed away and pointed a finger at me.

"No!"

I rolled my eyes at him and looked down to look for seashells.

"You don't think the others won't find it peculiar that we're "dating" and not referring to each other with any familiarity outside the norm?"

I glanced at him to find him thinking about what I'd said. I found a seashell and pulled it out of the sand. I pouted with disappointment to find it was broken. As I tossed it back into the ocean, I was surprised to find a complete shell hanging in front of my face. Turning to look at Aoi, I found him smiling smugly as he dropped it into my hand. We began moving along the shore, the water only high enough to cover the tops of our feet.

"I suppose. But calling you Mari-chan would seem a bit typical, don't you think? And so many people call you Mariko..."

I felt my face heat up, something that Aoi obviously noticed because he gave me a questioning look. He then smirked and tugged at my cheek till I cried out in pain. I cradled my throbbing cheek as he chuckled.

"You have a name you want to be called. Spit it out!"

I glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. I then ran onto the dry sand and flopped down on it. Though sand stuck to me, irritating my need to feel sand-free, I patted the spot next to me. Aoi sat down as I ran my fingers over the shell he had found.

"I just...I thought that when I would get a boyfriend-"

"_If _you would get a boyfriend."

I pushed Aoi who just grinned and waved a hand at me to signal he had been kidding.

"I would want my boyfriend to call me...uhm...well...Ri-chan."

I felt like my face was going to melt with how warm it got in the hot sun. Even Aoi's cheeks tinted pink and he gave me an incredulous look.

"That is less like a pet name and more like something he would call you to get sexual."

"AOI-KUN!"

"I'm serious!"

I buried my face in my knees. I wondered if boys just made everything sexual even though it isn't supposed to be. I heard Aoi shift beside me and suddenly felt my head being lifted up. I jumped slightly from how close he suddenly was. He was giving me a somewhat dazed kind of look. He suddenly closed his eyes and I froze as he kissed my cheek, then kissed my jaw, before pressing his lips to my ear and whispering...

"Ri-chan."

I thought I had burst into flame. I felt Aoi's lips form a smirk against my ear as a shiver ran through my body and my heart beat wildly against my chest.

"See, Ri-chan," he continued in a breathy whisper," You're face just radiates heat and goosebumps are on your arm."

I couldn't move as his hand ran up my arm to my shoulder.

"And now you want me," he finished.

He pulled away and looked at my face. I stared into his sapphire eyes in a stupor. I didn't move as he began to lean in. His lips were inches from mine. Then he smiled. The satisfaction on his face instantly pissed me off and I pushed him. He laughed as he fell onto his back in the sand.

"Jeez, _Ri-chan_, you're so _easy_. You think I would actually kiss you? C'mon. How stupid would that be?"

His laughter ended abruptly as I slapped him as hard as I could across the face. I felt uncontrollable tears leave my eyes. Sobs came without me willing them to and my vision blurred. It was the worst moment of my life up until that point. I had wanted him to kiss me. Not because of a name I had never been called before. I had wanted him to kiss me because his eyes pulled me in. A crash of emotions had hit me as I had looked at him in that moment. I had feelings for Aoi. True feelings beyond friendship. And it was the most horrifying realization of my life. I knew he was a good person deep down, but the fact was that I had a crush on an abusive and sarcastic jerk of a teenager. I could hear Aoi cursing from the pain on his cheek while calling me derogatory names.

"I'm sorry," was all I could cough out through my sobs.

I didn't know what I was sorry for exactly. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I wasn't completely sure I was saying sorry to him. Aoi's harsh words didn't last long as I felt his hands on my shoulders.

"Mariko-chan?" I heard him ask, quietly.

I was suddenly pulled off the sand and into an embrace. It wasn't Aoi who pulled me into their arms as I cried. I felt a jolt go through me as Ichirou went off like a bomb.

"Who the hell do you think you are? No man has the right to make a girl cry, you jerk! What kind of boyfriend do you think you are?"

"I di-"

"Just stay away from her! No one has the right to make my big sister cry! NO ONE! Mariko is a sweet person who only tries to help others and make them happy. Is it so hard to do the same for her? If you can't do that, you have no right to even be friends with her."

The entire time I kept mumbling to myself about how sorry I was. I couldn't even seen Aoi's face from Ichirou's yelling. I did begin to feel light-headed. The heat and the crying was truly getting to me. I could only remember both boys calling out my name as I slipped out of Ichirou's arms and onto the sand. After that, I didn't know what happened.


	11. Chapter 11

I saw Aoi's face every now and then. Everytime I began crying hysterically. Whether it was mental or physical, I wept. When I awoke to full awareness, I found Ms. Chou and Nagisa Hyoudou talking beside my bedroll. I groaned and rolled over to see them better. My head felt fuzzy, my eyes felt like falling out of their sockets, and my throat killed.

"Ms. Chou?" I half whispered, half croaked.

My guardian looked over and smiled at me. She stroked my hair.

"You're finally up, hmm? You fainted in the heat out there. Ichirou and Aoi-kun said you had been crying, but neither boy would tell me why. Of course, Aoi-kun stayed by you for awhile, but three times you woke up and burst into tears. After that, he ran out of the room whenever he saw your eyes remotely open. Once I swear he was going to start crying. He and Ichirou refused to sleep, but we made them sleep anyway. Since this morning, Aoi-kun had been out of the house, but he came back around noon with this."

Nagisa was smiling as he picked up a decently sized red bucket overflowing with seashells. I blinked at it in surprise. There were even a couple perfect sand dollars in there. Aoi's aunt laughed at my expression.

"Aoi-kun has been coming here since he was small. If there is anyone who would know how and where to find the perfect beach shells and critters, it is him. I assume that you had been looking for some yourself before you passed out."

Ms. Chou helped me sit up. I saw fireworks flash before my eyes and my head ached, but when the feeling passed I began looking through the bucket. Ms. Chou patted my hair and stood up.

"It's already evening and there is dinner downstairs that I suggest you come eat. You've been out for over a day. You need to be feeling well by tomorrow. You're not allowed to feel ill on your birthday. Nagisa-senpai and I are taking the kids to the convenience store. Aoi-kun will be around to look after you."

I wanted to protest as the two women got up and left the room, but I felt saying something would lead them to know that the dating was a lie. They would probably just tell me that couples had to sort out their own problems anyway. I wasn't sure I was ready to see Aoi yet, but I was incredibly hungry. I slipped out of the bed roll, only to shiver. The AC was on high. Sucking it up, I stumbled over to the door and opened it. I could hear the others leaving for the store. I was almost at the bottom of the stairs two minutes after they had left and found Aoi-kun coming up from the bottom. I squeaked, making his head pop up from the stairs.

"Mariko-chan?"

I turned to hustle back up the stairs, only to miss grabbing the railing. I began to fall backwards. My foot slipped past two stairs before I was grabbed around the waist from behind. I looked over my left shoulder to find Aoi holding the rail with his left hand for balance. I blushed and looked away.

"I'm sorry."

"You have to be careful. Gave me a heart attack."

I was suddenly lifted up and Aoi brought me down the last few stairs. He set me down at the bottom. His face looked more concerned than I'd ever seen. I was herded into the kitchen, which I hadn't yet seen. It was rather large, since it was a beach side hotel. I was pushed into a seat at a small table that I guessed wasn't used that often. I watched silently as Aoi moved around the kitchen. The dinner had apparently been rice balls. I saw Aoi look between the rice and the rice cooker. He had obviously never cooked in his life if he couldn't even use a rice cooker. I pulled myself out of my chair and went over to him. Without a word, I took the rice from him and did everything myself. He protested, saying he should do it, but his argument failed due to the main fact that he didn't know what to do. Aoi moved around the kitchen while waiting. It was awkwardly silent. I didn't blame him. I'd had an emotional breakdown, he didn't know why, and he couldn't figure out how to respond to something like that. After the rice cooker beeped at me for being finished, I formed four rice balls and went back to the table, where Aoi was now sitting. As I nibbled on one of the rice balls, I looked at the boy sitting across from me. He had his arms crossed on the table with his chin resting on the table as well. His eyes stared down at the wood. I only blinked at him when he raised his eyes to look at me. He could only hold my gaze for a moment before he looked away.

"I don't know…hmm."

He went quiet again. I nibbled on my rice ball a little more before swallowing and addressing him.

"Thank you for the sea shells. They were pretty."

Aoi's cheeks tinted pink as he stared off to his left.

"It was…whatever…you know…"

I was able to finish my first rice ball by the time Aoi spoke again. He sighed heavily and did his best to keep looking at me.

"I was mean and I'm sorry. I…I'm just so used to being mean to you…I suppose people in general…that I didn't even think I could hurt someone's feelings. No one really cared enough to get upset before I guess. It's not like I have that many friends. What I said was rude…and I guess I went too far with the teasing. To be honest, I kind of test out how male I can act when I'm with you since I don't have friends my age and…since you're a girl…You just kind of freaked me out. I mean, I don't exactly like being slapped, but you wouldn't stop _crying_. And you kept saying you were sorry when it wasn't even your fault. You're just so passive most of the time…and I've just been so used to taking advantage of you because you agree to help me. And then that stupid little kid came and yelled at me."

I hid a hint of a smile behind my second rice ball at the sour look on Aoi's face as he thought of Ichirou.

"While you were asleep, we had time to spend with each other. I guess he isn't completely horrible. He told me he likes you mostly because you're his image of the nicest kind of female. He has feelings mostly for who you represent as a person and knows that you won't like him. And he actually kind of likes it that way, because he feels that you're a moralistically decent person and should date someone your age."

Aoi ran his fingers through his bangs and covered his face with a sigh.

"And then…while you were out of it, you'd cry whenever you looked at me. I-I was- Ugh. I didn't want to lose my friend. I was-"

My heart skipped a beat as looked away and put a hand in front of his eyes. Sad. That was what he wanted to say. He was sad. I could hear a few sniffles from him. I almost fell out of my chair in surprise as he suddenly leapt up.

"I'm going to take a walk!"

"Aoi!"

He stopped mid-movement and looked back at me. We stared at each other before I pushed the last two rice balls at him.

"I'm not that hungry."

There was a hesitation before the both of us cracked smiles. Walked over to me and grabbed the plate. He ruffled my already messy hair.

"Wasteful," he chided, stuffing an entire rice ball into his mouth.

I stared at him in awe as he was actually able to chew the entire rice ball with relative ease. After we'd finished the rice balls, we moved back upstairs. Aoi went with me back to the room I was staying in.

"Emiko stayed the night in Ms. Chou's room so that you could sleep," he informed me as I changed in the closet," You should just leave your bed roll out since you'll have to go back to bed later. Lazy."

I came out of the closet in jean shorts and a pink tank top. I found Aoi sitting next to my bedroll with my hairbrush in his hand. He motioned me over with it. I tried to take my brush from him but he whacked my shoulder gently with it and instructed me to sit in front of him. It embarrassed me, but I let him brush through my hair. I noticed how aware of his movements and actions I had become after realizing my feelings. I felt nerves fluttering constantly in my stomach, but they were also kind of nice. Once Aoi finished with my hair, he put my hairbrush back in my bag and pulled me to my feet.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I probably should, since I slept for so long."

He grinned and moved toward the door. I followed him downstairs. As we stepped outside, we spotted the others returning. All the kids swarmed me with hugs and exclamations. Emiko was incredibly intent on telling me everything they had bought. In a moderately short amount of time, only Ms. Chou and Nagisa stood with us outside.

"We're going for a short walk," Aoi announced.

"Alright," Nagisa said," Just don't stay out too long. There is supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight. We heard thunder faintly on the way back."

"Okay," we said in unison, bounding off the porch and onto the sand.

We were a few feet away from the beach house when there was a clap of thunder. I jumped in surprise by how close it was. I stopped moving and looked at the waves. The wind was picking up, swirling my hair around my face. The same wind was making the water look dangerous as the waves were bigger than I'd seen them before. I felt fingers interlace with mine. Looking over, I saw Aoi smirking at me, his dark hair flying around his face in the wind.

"Don't be a baby. You'll be fine."

He tugged me toward the road that led toward the town. We walked quietly, holding hands with my heart beating against my chest, until reaching the town within five minutes. As we turned back, we could see lightening. Aoi frowned up at the sky.

"It's going to be bad. But don't worry, we'll be fine. And the beach house is really sturdy, too."

As we walked back, I began to notice that Aoi was trying to find a moment to say something. He kept looking over at me and sighing every now and then. Eventually, I looked up at him.

"Aoi?"

He blushed slightly and looked down at me.

"Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?"

He looked forward down the road before looking back at me. His hand squeezed mine.

"It feels awkward to mention already…but, do you want us to keep up this fake thing? I mean…after yesterday…"

I smiled to myself in the dark before wrapping my hands around his upper arm and leaning against him like we'd done once before.

"I kind of like the attention you have to give me."

Aoi looked down at me, his face slightly astonished.

"I never pegged you for the needy type!"

I laughed, hearing the joking tone in his voice. He chuckled and shrugged.

"I don't want to let my parents down…or Nagisa-san. But if it was going to mess with your head or something, I'd be okay with stopping the act. But…that leads me to ask…what should I _really _call you?"

I looked down at the ground, my face warming up from the memory of yesterday. I thought about it. I ran both options in my mind. I recalled him saying both Mariko and Ri-chan. Before answering, I looked up at Aoi.

"Would a guy really have to be stupid to want to kiss me?"

From the moonlight, I could see his eyes widen. He looked away guiltily with a blush on his cheeks. I bit my lip, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"It's okay. I get it."

Aoi looked at me in alarm.

"No! I just…I'm the stupid one for saying something like that," he gushed," I said that yesterday because I was…getting a bit carried away. My embarrassment kind of…negatively affected my response. You told me once that you wanted your first kiss to be meaningful and special. I didn't know how to explain that nicely without seeming like I was scared to kiss you or something."

I pressed my forehead against Aoi's shoulder. I didn't want him to see the smile on my lips, because then he might start to figure out I liked him.

"Ri-chan," I said to his shoulder," I want you to call me that so everyone thinks it's a pet name or something. But…when we're alone…just call me Mariko."

Aoi nodded. He was slightly stiff from embarrassment. When we were almost back to the beach house, there was a huge crash of thunder and than an alarmingly bright flash of lightning. I shouted and grabbed Aoi's arm tightly in surprise as the lights all along the beach went out. I could barely see the boy right beside me.

"Aoi, Emiko is afraid of the dark!"

At that moment we heard high-pitched wails coming from inside the building. Aoi's hand slipped into mine and he led me into the house to find the little girl. Nagisa and Ms. Chou were running around downstairs, trying to find candles.

"Mariko-chan? Aoi? Is that you?" Nagisa asked.

Ms. Chou turned toward us.

"Mariko, could you go take care of Emiko, she's upstairs in your room. The boys are already asleep."

"Sure."

Aoi, knowing the place better than I did, led me up the stairs as it began to pour heavily. Rain pounded the wooden building while thunder and lightning continued. It was easy to navigate toward the little girl because of her screaming. In our room, she was on my bedroll crying.

"I'M SCARED! MARIKO! ! WAAAAAAAA!"

I swept over to her and pulled her into my arms. I shushed her as I sat down on the bedroll with her. Aoi lay down in front of us on the bedroll as I put Emiko on my lap. She hugged me tightly, crying her eyes out.

"It's okay. I'm here and so is Aoi. It's okay. Shhh."

As I held her, she screamed less, but kept on crying. After about an hour I began to feel tired. My head kept drooping forward. I felt an arm move around me and Emiko, pulling us down to lie on our side. Emiko whined, but seemed okay with having been relocated to the floor. Her sobs seemed to quiet even more as she was now between both Aoi and myself, though she still clung to me. I felt better now that I could rest my head on a pillow. At some point my eyes closed and I could just hear Aoi setting out another bedroll and pillow, widening the space. Another hour later, I opened my eyes to find Emiko asleep and Aoi with his eyes closed.

"Mommy," I heard the little girl sigh in her sleep.

I kissed her forehead before looking back up at Aoi to see him grinning, his eyes still closed.

"You hear that, Mariko? You're a good mommy."

"Shut up," I told him, resting back on the pillow.

I was asleep within a few minutes.


	12. Chapter 12

I woke up to find myself all alone. Emiko was gone. Aoi was gone. Even the second bedroll was gone. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and looked outside. The sun was shining through the glass sliding doors to the balcony. Taking a quick bath in the bathroom down the hall, I dressed and, as I was sorting out some of my things, I heard loud talking and laughter from outside. Going onto the balcony, I looked down to see the kids running around while Aoi, Ms. Chou, and Nagisa stood off to the side. I smiled as Koji was complaining about the sand just as he tripped and fell onto it. Ichirou jumped on top of his brother and Emiko followed suit. I couldn't help laughing at the sight. Aoi apparently heard me as he looked up.

"Oi! Come down here!" he shouted up to me," Ri-chan!"

The last part seemed to have been an afterthought. I blushed as Ms. Chou and Nagisa both squealed with delight at the name. I could see Aoi turn as red as a fire engine from the balcony. Quickly slipping away from the railing, I went downstairs and met the others outside. I was instantly attacked by three sand covered individuals with hugs.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIKO!" they shouted, my ears hurting as Emiko practically shrieked her wishes.

I smiled before I felt a warm hand slip into mine. I looked over as Aoi began tugging me toward Ms. Chou and Nagisa. I was kind of surprised as we moved past them.

"Eh? Aoi-"

"We're going shopping!" he announced.

The women just laughed and waved me away. I furrowed my eyebrows. Aoi kept dragging me until we were out of sight of everyone on the road to the town. He grinned back at me, pulling me alongside him. I blushed heavily and his wrapped his arm around my waist from the side.

"We're in public!" I whispered, embarrassed.

My fake boyfriend laughed at me, but didn't remove his arm.

"I don't care. I am going to act like a proper boyfriend for your birthday. Understood? And you are not allowed to leave my side or refuse to tell me what you want."

Goosebumps jumped up on my arms from our proximity, but I kept quiet and let Aoi have his way. In town, we went into almost every store we saw. Before I knew it, two hours had gone by and I was exhausted. We stopped at a cafe and while Aoi was ordering drinks for us, I spotted two familiar faces. I waved.

"Kanou-kun! Yukimura-kun!"

The taller of the two went deep red while the shorter smiled brightly.

"Mariko-chan, how are you? You came to the beach for break, too?"

I nodded enthusiastically as Aoi reached us. His face got a bit of a sullen tinge as he saw the two males.

"Oh, you two."

They stared at him before Yukimura suddenly seemed to think of something.

"You're Misaki's friend! Aoi-kun, right?"

Aoi snorted with slight amusement. I blinked in confusion. They apparently didn't know he was Aoi-chan. I jumped slightly as Aoi slid his chair around really close to me and sat in it. After putting our drinks down, he slung an arm around my shoulders. I couldn't even look up at the two boy's faces.

"So you two are dating? How cool! Aoi-kun, are you a fan of her modeling?"

Kanou kept quiet, content to just listen. Aoi smirked and looked over at me. I jumped as his hand stroked my cheek.

"I'm a fan of her even when she isn't modeling," he said in a deeper voice than normal.

I felt like I couldn't breathe as I looked up at Aoi in surprise. My condition only worsened to find Aoi putting an intense look on his face. His eyes...again...I couldn't think straight. Kanou cleared his throat and motioned to Yukimura that they should leave. The talkative male had lost his speech at the sight of Aoi being so intimate.

"Well...uh, enjoy your date. Hope to see you around."

I was barely able to squeak out a bye before they were out the door. Aoi chuckled quietly. When he laughed like that, I came out of my strange trance. I whacked him on the shoulder, blushing profusely.

"Aoi!"

He smiled at me before pinching my cheek.

"So cute when you're flustered," he mumbled so only I could hear.

I thought I was going to faint like I did two days ago. I was only able to grab my drink and consume it. Aoi grinned, pleased with himself. After we were done at the cafe, I was dragged to more stores before we headed back. It was three in the afternoon by the time we got back. Aoi didn't lead me into the building right away. He turned to me, a slight pink on his face.

"Mariko, I know I am being really selfish. If you're with me, you can't go out and find a real boyfriend. And...you shouldn't be okay with this."

I looked up at him in surprise. I felt a slight pain in my chest.

"You're breaking up with me?"

He laughed quietly and looked out at the waves.

"In a sense. But...not right now...Maybe once we get back. We don't have to tell everyone it was a fake thing...we can just say we...are waiting till we're older or something...You're just...you're...my best friend and I can't do that to you."

My eyes widened as I looked up at Aoi's face. Even if it hurt to hear this because I liked him, I felt warm on the inside because he actually...

"So we can still spend time together?" I asked, happily.

I suddenly hugged him tightly. He hesitated before hugging me back. I knew his face was very bright.

"Duh," he muttered into my hair.

He suddenly pulled away and grabbed my wrist.

"But for now, I'm still your boyfriend so c'mon."

"Huh?"

I was pulled into the house. We walked straight into party decorations. I smiled as everyone I cared about wished me happy birthday. There was a huge cake set up on one of the tables and a stack of presents nearby. Pizza had also been ordered. I squeezed Aoi's hand in happiness. Even if we were going to break-up soon, I vowed that I would tell him my feelings...someday. And using my birthday candles, I blew them out thinking of that wish.

The party was a lot of fun and I got a lot of great presents. Most of it was cute clothing that I would never buy for myself. Something that happened thanks to Aoi recommending all of my gifts. After dinner, when the other kids had gone to bed, Aoi pulled me out to a hill in the woods by the beach house. There we sat under the starry sky. It was kind of chilly in the wind, but they had a fireworks display going on, keeping me riveted. I looked away from the show only when Aoi put his hand on mine.

"Was I a good boyfriend today?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded.

"And to think my first date would be with a fake boyfriend."

Aoi looked back at the fireworks.

"You don't have to think of it as a first date since I put you into all of this."

I shifted my sitting position so that I was facing Aoi. To me, he was more amazing to look at than the fireworks, because he was completely serious. He wasn't teasing or being mean. He was just being Aoi. I turned his face to look at me with my index finger.

"That was my first date because you did that for real. For me. For my birthday."

Aoi blushed gently, something I could see from the glow of the fireworks.

"Then I guess my first date was a success," he quietly responded.

I leaned my head on his shoulder to hide my face as it heated up. My first date...and my first time sitting under the stars with a boy I liked. I felt Aoi's hand tighten on mine before his other hand lifted my chin up.

"Mariko, for some reason..."

I could only blink as his face was really close to mine.

"Right now I want to..."

We stayed like that for a moment before Aoi sighed and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I think all this date talk is getting to my head," he grimaced, his eyes closed, "But it isn't meaningful unless you're really dating the person."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him while he couldn't see me.

"Aoi?"

He opened his eyes and pulled away a bit.

"Hm?"

I felt him stiffen as I put my hands on his shoulders. I couldn't help but grin at that.

"If you want to kiss me right now, then it is meaningful."

Before Aoi could say anything else and before my nerves could kick in, I pressed my lips against his. My nerves kicked in then, causing my hands to start shaking. I was about to pull away when I felt him returning the kiss. The hand he had on mine changed to interlace our fingers together. As we pulled apart, we both blushed but continued to look the other in the eye. Aoi smiled slightly.

"Great..._you_ had to initiate it. What kind of man does that make me?"

We both laughed. I knew that by tomorrow, we would pretend it never happened. And maybe it would take a long time for Aoi to actually return my feelings, but for that moment...I was just happy to share my first meaningful kiss on a special day underneath the beautiful night sky that glowed bright with fireworks.

Author's Note: I will try and have the next chapter up as soon as I can. :) I hope you enjoyed it.


	13. Chapter 13

-Three Years Later:-

"Mariko-chan!"

Satsuki stopped me in the hallway as I headed into the changing room.

"Good work today! Aoi's finished in the kitchen so you two can head out whenever."

She waved and disappeared to lock-up for the night. I gave a relieved sigh and pulled the bonnet off of my hair. Once I turned sixteen, Satsuki had eagerly allowed me to work at Maid Latte. Aoi had gotten supremely jealous since he got too masculine to wear the maid outfits or any kind of girls clothes anymore. Aoi-chan's sight had gone into retirement after a lot of whining from Aoi.

As I opened my locker and started unlacing the bodice, I jumped as arms wrapped around my waist. I heard a sigh and the weight of someone's head resting on my shoulder.

"At least you get to live out my dream while I work as a cook."

I turned and hit Aoi on the side of his head. He pouted at me, not letting go of my waist.

"How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me when I'm undressing in here?!"

Aoi smirked, making me heart do a flip. He had gotten even better looking. He still had the same hair and eyes, but his face was a man's. He was broad shouldered and much taller than me now. He teasingly pushed me up against the lockers. The black fabric of his shirt pressed again my cheek as I turned away from him.

"I think I like how red your face gets over it."

"Aoi!"

He put his hands up with a sigh and walked away to the other side of the lockers.

"Yeah, yeah. Get out. I'm going."

Changing into my casual clothes, I moved quickly to meet up with Aoi outside. As I closed my locker, a letter fell out of my bag. Picking it up, I smiled. Ichirou and Koji had sent me my weekly letter. I opened it quickly and read it as I left the building. I met up with Aoi outside the cafe. I didn't mind has he read over my shoulder. I looked up at him when I had finished reading. Aoi took my hand and tugged me along toward the orphanage.

"They seem to enjoy their new family. I can't believe they've been gone for a year. Even though we ended the fake dating, Ichirou still gave me funny looks. With him gone, it's no fun to tease you at your place."

I smiled and tucked the letter in my bag. The two boys had found parents who adopted both of them together. It was now only me, Ms. Chou, and Emiko left. Thinking of eight year old Emiko, I suddenly felt depressed. I squeezed Aoi's hand, causing him to look down at me. He stopped me on the sidewalk.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I chewed on the side of my cheek.

"Emiko...she's getting adopted."

Aoi blinked at me for a moment before letting out a breath. He hugged me around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest.

"Hey. That's a good thing. I know it's hard to let her go-"

"It's not just that," I whispered, clinging to his shirt.

I looked up at him, tears welling up in my eyes.

"She begged me to adopt her instead since I turn eighteen tomorrow. She was crying and said if I didn't adopt her...she would hate me forever. That if I let her go she could never think of me as family ever again."

Aoi rubbed away the tears that fell down my cheeks with his thumbs.

"She is just an eight year old girl. She says that now because she doesn't understand how adoption works and that you can't just do that. It's going to be hard enough on you having to be on your own."

I swallowed my pain and pulled away from Aoi to keep walking. People were starting to stare at us as they passed by. I rubbed at my eyes as Aoi took my hand again. His warmth was comforting. I wondered if things would change once I was on my own. When we reached the orphanage, I looked up at him.

"Ms. Chou told you how she is closing the place down right?"

Aoi nodded solemnly. Ms. Chou had chosen to go back to her family. No other children had been sent to her orphanage as her parent's own had grown even larger. She was going back to help with the big one.

"What do you plan to do?" Aoi asked me, quietly.

I looked up to see him looking at me seriously. I shrugged and shuffled my feet.

"I'll just keep working at Maid Latte, I guess. I don't have enough money yet to rent a place and I can't live off of the two thousand I'll get from the government..."

Aoi grabbed my chin roughly, making me grimace from pain. He made me look up into his angry face.

"Don't just settle to work there forever. I told you to try for that modeling job. I even set up that entire portfolio for you. Do you think I dress you up and take pictures of you for nothing?"

"But unlike you, I only have Maid Latte. Do you know how lucky you are to be a designer at your age _and_ still work part time at Maid Latte? Don't think I don't know you do that just so you can walk me home every night and not worry about me getting kidnapped."

I put my hands on his hand, making him loosen his grip. He growled and turned away from me to lose some steam. I was so used to him losing his temper by now, that I just waited patiently. I watched him sigh and then he turned to me with a smile.

"Look. Just look forward to your birthday, okay?"

I looked down at the pavement.

"Okay."

Aoi hesitated before kissing my cheek. He then began walking toward his house with a wave. Going inside, I found Emiko waiting for me in the foyer wearing pajamas. Her eyes were red from crying.

"Emi..."

"Mariko-chan!"

She tackled me in a hug.

"Ms. Chou told me that what I said this morning would really hurt you. I'm sorry!"

I smiled slightly and hugged her back.

"It's okay. Emi...I wish I could take you with me, but-"

"I know. Ms. Chou explained. I waited up just to apologize."

I smiled at her and pulled her up into my arms.

"That was very sweet, but now you have to go to bed. It is pretty late."

I walked her up the stairs, telling her about my day. After tucking her in bed, I ran into Ms. Chou in the hallway. She smiled at me.

"I saw Aoi-kun walked you home again. Why don't you two just start dating again, hm? Three years and neither of you have dated anyone. It isn't like you are still too young for-"

I blushed at her comments and waved my arms frantically.

"Ms. Chou! Please! Don't...don't say anymore please."

Ms. Chou laughed and patted my head. A sad gleam came to hear eyes.

"I'm going to miss you. You're like a little sister...and you helped me so much."

I felt tears coming to my eyes once again. I hugged Ms. Chou tightly.

"I'm going to miss you and Emiko...but I know you guys are going be okay. I'm sure that by going back home you can meet a nice guy, Ms. Chou. You deserve one."

I laughed as our adult blushed heavily and fanned her heated face.

"Mariko-chan! Really...now I understand what I put you through."

We both laughed before parting ways to sleep. I was just getting into bed when my cell phone went off. It was my sixteenth birthday present from Aoi and one person ever really called me on it. I picked as I turned off my light.

"Hey."

"Hey. Can you go somewhere with me tomorrow morning? I'll be at there to pick out your outfit at nine."

I furrowed my eyebrows and buried myself in my blankets.

"Where are we going?"

"Like I would tell you..."

I smiled, remembering how Aoi was when I first met him.

"Okay."

The phone line went quiet for awhile.

"Stop it," Aoi suddenly said.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Stop worrying about everything and get sleep. Don't make me feel like I need to come put you to sleep. I've got a few ideas how to put you to sleep pretty quickly. Though the method would go on for-"

My face was on fire as I protested.

"Aoi! You have such a dirty mind."

I heard him snicker, making me smile.

"What would I do without you?" I asked quietly.

"I know right? Mariko. Bed. Now. Goodnight."

"Alright. Goodnight. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

I placed my phone on the nightstand by my bed before turning over and closing my eyes. I did my best not to let my mind keep me up by worrying.


	14. Chapter 14

"Mariko..."

I curled tighter into a ball. It was a nice dream I was having...maybe if I try to sleep again...

"Mariko!"

Why am I being shouted at?

"Mariko, wake up, dammit! You'll be late!"

I turned and glared at the person yelling at me. Blue hair...oh, Aoi. My eyes opened in shock.

"Kyaaaaaa! Not again!"

I burrowed under my covers. He saw my sleeping face!

"Kya?"

I heard a masculine chuckle from above. With my covers still on top of my face I leaped off my bed and ran to my door. I was able to make it to the bathroom after bumping into a wall only once. I heard hard laughter coming from my bedroom. After going through my morning bathroom ritual, I came back to my room to see Aoi lying on my bed with a smirk on his face.

"You are such a girl."

I tossed my folded blankets on the bed and pouted at him.

"You shouldn't come into a girl's bedroom like that! Why do you do things to upset me?!"

Aoi gracefully lifted himself from the bed and went over to my closet.

"Don't worry. The sight of you drooling all over yourself doesn't bother me."

I stared at him in shock and embarrassment. He came out of the closet holding some of the newest clothes I had gotten. He smiled, seeing me on the verge of tears. Placing the clothes on the bed he patted my head gently as I sniffled.

"So...mean..."

He tilted his head as he looked at me.

"You know how much I like cute things. Your sleeping face is just one of them. And don't worry, you sleep normally."

He patted me on the cheek, harder than necessary, but it stopped my tears instantly.

"Ow?"

Aoi instructed me to get dressed in a loose floral top with a pink tank top under it and to slip on a pink form fitting skirt. Once I was done dressing in the bathroom, he had my pink heels waiting for me. Pushing me into a chair he insisted I do my make-up as he quickly put my hair up himself to save time.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I grabbed my purse before following him downstairs.

Aoi didn't answer me as Emiko came dashing out of her room.

"ONII-CHAN!"

He was prepared as Emiko jumped straight into his arms. Emiko hugged him tightly with glee has he spun her around once. I watched laughing at the two of them. Aoi put her down and ruffled her hair.

"Emiko-chan, we have to go out! But make sure everything is ready for Mariko's birthday when we get back, okay?"

I rolled my eyes as Emiko saluted him. She ran over and hugged me before running into the bathroom. I then followed Aoi outside. The entire walk, I pestered him.

"Is it somewhere I've been before?"

"Mariko..."

"Is is close by? I am wearing heels after all..."

"Mariko..."

"Should I be nervous?"

"Mariko."

"Where are we-?"

Aoi suddenly grabbed my wrist and stared at me hard in the face. I bit my lip in nervousness.

"Not another word," he growled.

It was silent for about two more minutes before we stopped outside a tall office building. I stared at Aoi.

"Your workplace?"

He grinned at me before motioning me inside. Aoi led me into an elevator up to the sixth floor. Once we came out I was brought to the largest office on the floor where a lady in a white suit was working at her desk. She smiled as Aoi and I came into the room. My nerves suddenly made me start shaking slightly. Why am I here?

"I brought her. As promised," Aoi said, satisfaction in his voice.

I smiled at the woman who glanced down at her desk for a moment. I followed her eyes and almost tripped in shock. A copy of the portfolio Aoi had made for me lay covering her desk. I was barely able to reach out my had to shake hers.

"Hello, Sato-san. You are so much cuter in person! I am Hyoudou's boss and the owner of our design business. I am Suki Shiima and I have been looking forward to meeting you!"

I blinked at her rapidly and bowed quickly.

"This is really an honor for me!"

Shiima moved around her desk and leaned on it.

"We have been looking for models as our business has been growing. We need a model who can wear our designs at fashion shows across the world and even at small events to get our products out there. Hyoudou's designs have been receiving more and more attention as of late which leads to him needing a model to work with here. He begged me to look at your portfolio and look I have. I think you would fit in well here. Hyoudou insisted that the two of you were so close that he would be sad to even leave the country without you!"

I glanced over at Aoi who had gone red in the face.

"Boss, that's...you didn't have to-!"

She grinned teasingly at him before looking at me.

"Will you take the job as Hyoudou's model?"

I gaped at the two of them for a moment before stammering out a...

"Yes! Thank you so much for this opportunity!"

My new boss smiled at me before going back to the other side of her desk.

"You have Hyoudou's schedule, so let him fill you in on everything. You'll start on Monday."

I bowed and thanked her repeatedly until Aoi led me out of the room. I was in such shock that I couldn't speak until we were out of the building. Once we had made a few steps back toward the orphanage. I squealed and jumped on Aoi.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! AOI!"

Aoi gave a subdued laugh, obviously embarrassed by my ridiculous display of excitement. But I couldn't help myself. I had a job! I really good one too! Aoi had told me all about the models and the job they had as the company had started growing. I just couldn't believe I was now one of them.

He began laughing as I let him go, took off my heels, and began running home. He followed after me quickly. Bursting through the front door I found Ms. Chou and Emiko setting up the dining room for my party. Aoi had evidently already told them what he had been planning as they both ran to me with hugs and congratulations. After I was able to calm down a bit, Ms. Chou put a hand on Emiko's shoulder.

"Let's set out the food, Emiko. Mariko, go put your stuff in your room and we'll get the party going!"

Doing as I was instructed I went upstairs with Aoi following me. As I dumped my heels and purse in my closet and turned and hugged my best friend again.

"Thank you so much!" I said softly.

I felt his hands on my waist as he hugged me back.

"Don't thank me. I did it mostly for myself."

I looked up to see him blushing. He saw that I was curious and smiled at me, embarrassed.

"I only like you modeling my clothes. I don't care how many people wear it as long as you show it off first."

I smiled, happy with his feelings. My smile faded slightly as Aoi's face came closer to me.

"I also...don't want to go overseas without the girl...I-"

My door flew open with a slam, making us jump apart.

"Where the heck are you guys? The foods going to get cold!"

We both stared as Emiko stood in the doorframe with her hands on her hips. My face was burning so hot that I couldn't even bring myself to look at Aoi. What had he been about to say? What had he been about to do? I heard him groan quietly to himself before striding toward the door and kneeling down in front of Emiko. She jumped on his offered piggy back ride instantly. He looked back at me, his face tinted red.

"Come on, Mariko. More surprises await you."

I smiled at the two of them before following along.


	15. Chapter 15

Aoi placed Emiko on the floor in the dining room. Ms. Chou was just bringing in the cake from the kitchen. The candles were lit and everything. The singing started up instantly, making me smile as I stood behind the chair specified for me by a balloon tied to the top of it. I leaned down to blow out my candles, but stopped as Emiko posed a question to me.

"What are you wishing for?"

Ms. Chou pouted and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She can't say!"

I smirked. I wasn't really sure I thought of a particular wish at first. The thought of finding a place to live came to mind along with Emiko getting adopted by good people. I also looked over at Aoi. I had wished for him for two birthdays now. I stared at the candles before quickly blowing them out. I want me and everyone around me to be happy. Those in attendance clapped before we dug into the buffet of food Ms. Chou had prepared. Once everyone was eating their pieces of cake, I was handed all of my gifts. There were only three, but I was used to this. I was just happy that people I cared about were with me.

"Open mine first!" Emiko declared, her excitement almost causing her to knock her cake off the table.

I laughed and agreed. Hers was the most brightly wrapped gift there. I unwrapped a small box and opened it to find a locket. It was engraved with my name and when I opened it there was a picture of all of us who lived at the orphanage. It was taken on my birthday three years ago by Nagisa and Aoi. On the other side of the heart was a picture of Emiko and Aoi with me in the middle taken earlier this year. I felt my eyes burn, thinking that things were changing so quickly.

"Oh, Emi..."

Emiko got up and gave me a hug.

"I love you, big sister. Even if my new family takes me far away. I'll write to you, just like Ichirou and Koji. Every week."

I couldn't hold my tears anymore. I got rid of them quickly though, because I didn't want Emiko to start crying as well. Ms. Chou and Aoi smiled at me knowingly. Once Emiko was seated again, I shook Aoi's gift.

"Careful!" Aoi yelled, almost getting out of his chair," Don't play rough with it!"

I gave him an apologetic look and opened it only to gawk. I looked up at him shaking my head.

"I can't accept this!"

"But you need it," Aoi said, leaning back in his chair," Don't whine and just accept it. Happy Birthday."

It was a laptop. I had never had one or felt I needed it.

"But it's so-"

Aoi stared at me hard.

"You can now video chat with everyone you know. Even when you are overseas. You'll be getting emails from people in no time because of your new job. It is practical."

I figured it would be rude to protest much more so I just bowed my head and thanked him profusely. Aoi got a cocky smirk on his face. Carefully placing the laptop on the table, I picked up an envelope from Ms. Chou. Upon opening it, I almost fell out of my chair.

"Oh my gawd! Ms. Chou!"

She leaned forward in her chair and smiled at me.

"This is from not only me, but Aoi's parents, Nagisa-san, and everyone at Maid Latte. Since I love you, I am letting you have it."

"But...but the entire house?!"

Aoi grinned, having been in on this. I couldn't stop looking at the deed in my hands.

"And I am moving in with you as well."

My eyes were wide in shock.

"Ms. Chou, I-"

She stopped me by putting her hand up.

"No, no. If you protest, I will feel highly insulted. It is a small house and I feel better leaving it in your care. It is entirely paid off and it will be close to your new job. And I feel that Aoi will take good care of you. Now you don't have to worry about where to live or about paying rent."

This time tears fell down my face in a torrential downpour.

"Thank you so much!" I barely whispered loud enough.

I was soon being hugged by the females present, both of them crying with me. I heard Aoi mutter "Women" before leaving the three of us in private. I was so glad for caring people that I was overwhelmed with all the kindness. Afterwards, we were able to clean up, which Aoi came back to help with.

Two months later, Emiko was with her new family and Ms. Chou had gone back home. Aoi was fully moved into the house. He took over the room that Ichirou and Koji had shared together. Ms. Chou had insisted that I move into her old room as it was bigger than either me or Emiko's room. That placed me and Aoi right beside each other. I was actually very nervous about living with a boy on my own even though we were both eighteen by this point. His birthday was in mid-summer on July 16th. I hadn't even bothered to ask him if he had almost kissed me on my birthday for fear of making things awkward.

We had been living together for two weeks when we got our first assignment to go overseas and visit America. Specifically New York. There was an international fashion show taking place and I was very nervous. I sat on the plane next to Aoi clenching my fists. Aoi had been asleep most of the trip, seeming as if there wasn't a care in the world. Once we landed, we were quickly directed to the hotel. Aoi had insisted that the two of us be in the same hotel room, so the boss had obliged. I figured she didn't understand Aoi completely as there was only one bed when we walked in. I dropped my bags and turned toward the door.

"Oh, no!"

I was stopped by an amused Aoi who turned me back around.

"Don't cause problems. It isn't like I am going to bite you if we sleep in the same bed."

I glared at him as he flopped down on the bed, easily curling into a ball like nothing was wrong.

"Aoi, how am I supposed to sleep?"

"We're eighteen and old enough to handle this maturely, Mariko."

He rolled over and leaned on his shoulder. He beckoned me over, to which I reluctantly followed. I sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed.

"It's a queen size, so calm down. Plenty of room. I'll try not to touch you inappropriately."

"TRY!?"

Aoi snickered and grabbed me. I shrieked as I was pulled into his strong arms in a tight hug. I felt my face flush as his body heat washed over me along with my body temperature fly through the ceiling.

"I'll be your pillow tonight, Mariko," I heard him growl aggressively in my ear.

I began to flail like a fish out of water.

"I'm going to the main desk!"

"I was joking! Calm down!"

Aoi laughed and stroked my hair till I calmed down. I pouted in protest of his embarrassing words. I began drifting off when Aoi shook me.

"Nope, you're going to wash off your make-up before you even think of falling asleep. Go on."

I was pushed unceremoniously out of the bed. It was Aoi's way of being somewhat sweet by letting me shower first. Once I was ready for bed I came out awkwardly in my nightgown. I was prepared for Aoi to tease me, but he only moved into the bathroom.

"Sheesh, way to steam up the place..."

"Shut up!"

I smiled to myself before crawling into the bed. The hotel room was colder than I would have liked, but I knew the blankets would warm me up eventually. I looked over our schedule for tomorrow while Aoi was showering. We could tour around in the afternoon as the fashion show wasn't until the late evening. We would then have dinner with everyone from our workplace. We would then take a vacation day the day after and leave for home early two days from now. I committed the schedule to memory. I but down the folder as Aoi came out of the bathroom. I almost fell over, seeing him shirtless. I just able to stay in the bed by grabbing the nightstand.

"A-Aoi...a shirt?"

He glanced over at me, no teasing on his face.

"Hm? I don't sleep with one. I get too warm in the summer."

I burrowed into the covers again.

"But the hotel room is kind of chilly."

Aoi went over to the AC and turned it down before turning out the lights. I strained my eyes in the dark until I felt the other side of the bed shift and a body sliding in next to mine.

"Here."

I jumped as Aoi pulled me into his arms and wrapped himself around me, just like earlier. Only this time, he wasn't squeezing me tightly, just holding me. I blushed in the darkness. I felt so much better in his arms with his body heat transferring to me. I felt Aoi's forehead snuggled up to the side of my head.

"Not going to protest?" his asked quietly, his warm breath heating up my cheek.

I shook my head.

"Your warmth...it's nice."

Aoi didn't say anything. I just felt when he breathed. He only grunted in surprise when I sunk down and pressed my face to his chest.

"I'm nervous about the show. If I mess up, I would mess up all you have worked for toward this show."

I heard my best friend scoff as he put an arm around my shoulder with his hand landing on my head.

"You'll be fine. All your previous fashion shows were great. And if you mess up, it doesn't matter to me as long as you're still my model. I'm more jealous that people get to see how pretty you are than just me."

I laughed.

"When did you become so good at flattering women?"

I felt him chuckled as I turned my back to him. Not letting me escape, Aoi pressed himself against my back.

"I've had years of practice. I have to make up for all those times I was horrible to you."

"You already have times a thousand."

"Hm...then I guess it's a habit."

I felt the strong urge to turn around and tell Aoi that I loved him. Fighting it down, I took deep breaths and tried to sleep. I somehow managed it. Probably because of the comforting warmth that Aoi gave me.


	16. Chapter 16

Our table at our hotel's restaurant had been extremely loud the next night at dinner. The fashion show had gone perfectly and everyone was excited and relieved, causing most of the members of our company drink too much. After dinner, Aoi and I returned to the room in a good mood, even though we hadn't been allowed to drink ourselves. As I changed in the bathroom, I spoke loudly to Aoi who was changed and lying in the bed playing with his phone.

"Your outfits were so popular! I still can't believe you were able to create one wedding dress along with all of the other out fits. It was the most popular item at the show!"

I heard Aoi hum in agreement before I heard his phone be placed on the nightstand near him. I pulled on my nightdress and moved out of the bathroom. Aoi looked over at me and smiled.

"It's helped that you were my model. You look the best in my outfits."

I blushed and waved away his comment with my hand before sighing and falling onto the bed. I turned my head to find Aoi's face extremely close. I stared into his eyes before looking up at the ceiling. I heard Aoi snicker to himself, but I dismissed it.

"Where do you want to go tomorrow on our day off?" I asked," I at least want to go shopping."

"I was planning on staying in the hotel room all day," was his response.

Turning, I shook my head at him as he grinned.

"You are so boring. You were going to let me roam around in a different country by myself?"

"Of course not."

My eyes widened as Aoi rolled on top of me, his arms slipping under my back, pulling me against him. His face buried itself in my neck.

"I was planning on having you stay here in the room with me."

His breath on my neck made me shiver, even though my body temperature was incredibly high. I pushed on Aoi's chest, but he wouldn't budge.

"Why do you always say things like that? How do you not have a girlfriend when you are such a flirt?"

I laughed somewhat bitterly, but stopped as Aoi leaned off of me so he could look me in the eyes. He was so serious that my brain froze slightly. The only sounds were our quiet breaths as we stared at each other. I felt my face burning.

"Aoi?"

He looked away from me.

"I don't say those types of things to just anyone, Mariko. I say them to you because..."

I felt my adrenaline spike at his words. Does he have feelings for me? Real feelings? I saw him flinch before he leaned on his elbows and rested his head against my forehead.

"Since you are my best friend," he mumbled.

I lowered my eyes to look at his nose and lips. My body began to tremble beneath him from quickly beating heart. I felt disappointment filter through me. Swallowing hard, I used all of my adrenaline to press my lips against his. Aoi started, his lips parting in surprise. I pulled back with embarrassment and moved to get out from under him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears starting to come to my eyes," I shouldn't have-"

I was cut off sharply as Aoi's hand moved swiftly from my waist to the back of my neck. His lips pressed against mine before I could even move an inch. He was so forceful, I yelped. I was struck dumb as his tongue slipped into my mouth when I did. It was as if my body was melting. I felt his warm body against me in every place we had contact. I let myself sink into his vigorous kiss. After a moment, Aoi pulled away and just looked at me, his eyes intense. I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment, making him chuckle.

"Mariko, you're so cute."

My hand slid down so I can look at him.

"I'm...what?"

Aoi smirked and rubbed his nose against a part of my cheek that my hands weren't covering.

"You're cute. I've thought ever since I really got to know you, but...why would I really tell you that...but...right now..."

I let my hands leave my face as I wrapped my arms around Aoi's neck. He began leaving gentle kisses on my face.

"Aoi," I started hesitantly," I've...loved you since we were fake dating. I knew that day on the beach when I began crying and fainted."

He cringed at the memory before dropping his lips to my ear.

"I love you, too. I figured it out when I thought that you would hate me forever after that...It's part of the reason I called the whole thing off. I wanted you to like me for me. I had a feeling you might have liked me, but I didn't want to ruin everything if I was wrong. I almost caved on your birthday, though."

I smiled as he kissed me on my lips, gently this time.

"Mariko, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked me, holding me tightly.

"Yes, Aoi."

My boyfriend grinned and attacked my lips passionately.

"Great. So can I have sex with my girlfriend?"

"AOI!"

"Guess not..."

We both laughed, but continued to kiss until we both fell asleep. The next day we went around New York, touring the place. I was so happy to be doing that holding hands with the boy I had loved for three years. When we got back to Japan, I made sure to let everyone know that Aoi and I were "back" together. Everyone was thrilled, even Ichirou who had managed to find himself a girlfriend. Aoi, of course, pointed out that she could pass for my sister, but he just wants to pick on Ichirou. I can't describe how happy I am to have an amazing job as well as an amazing boyfriend, even if he is mean to me every now and then. As long as I know he loves me, everything is okay. Even if I don't feel cute, or pretty, or particularly beautiful, I know it doesn't matter to him because he loves me for me. And that is all I could ever ask for.

The End


End file.
